Assam board exams begin amid vigilance

Guwahati: Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) officials said the English exam on the first day was held without any untoward incident as the the council introduced constant monitoring of the exam centres across the state, facilitated by constant reporting from the centres by supervising officials.
After barring use of mobile phones by teachers in the exam centres and prohibiting the use of all digital equipments by the students, flying squads have been put on alert to foil any attempts of cheating by students and outsiders. "Supervising officers, deputed across all districts of the state, will submit reports online about the examination on a daily basis. Flying squads functioning under the deputy commissioners of the respective districts are on high alert," AHSEC secretary Kamal Jyoti Gogoi told TOI.

Gogoi said 21 'sensitive' examination centres, mostly located at distant places, are on radar of the exam authorities. About 2.56 lakh candidates are registered to appear in the exam this year from 826 examination centres of the state. 1.99 lakh candidates are registered to appear in the exam from the Arts stream, 38,095 from the Science stream, 18,123 candidates from the Commerce stream and 1,040 from the vocational stream.

"For the second consecutive year, the state education department has waived off the exam fees of candidates from below the poverty line (BPL) families so that students do not suffer due to their economic conditions," Gogoi added.