Fresh advisory for conduct of Matric exams

The Board of Secondary Education (BSE), which conducts the Matriculation Examinations, issued a fresh advisory to centre superintendents on Saturday asking them to ensure that no one carries a mobile phone to the examination centres.

“Except the centre superintendents, all others involved in the examination processes are strictly prohibited from carrying mobile telephones to the examination centres,” the advisory issued by BSE President Dr Jahan Ara Begum emphasised.

Clarifying about the advisory, a BSE official said besides the students, all teachers, invigilators and even the squads, including the Board, district and State-level squads visiting the examination centres are barred from carrying telephones to the centres.

“Before entering into the examination centres, the squad members are advised to deposit their mobile phones with the centre superintendents,” the officer said, adding that the fresh advisory is issued to avoid recurrence of the incident that happened on Friday.

On Friday, the day the fortnight-long examinations began, photographs of some pages of the multiple choice questions were widely circulated in WhatsApp messenger. The messages, however, did not hamper the examination as they went viral only after the paper was over.

The BSE authorities realised that their earlier advisory on mobile phone was not properly adhered to in some examination centres, thereby creating the slipup on Friday. Since such lapses could trigger major controversies like spreading rumours of question paper leak, the fresh advisory was issued.