UP Boards 2019: Over 5.10 lakh students have skipped exams so far

Tough measures to check use of unfair means resulted in 5,10,712 candidates skipping their paper in the ongoing UP Board examinations till Thursday, fifth day of the exam.

On day 3 (Tuesday), 2,72,452 students had not turned up to write their Hindi exam in the Hindi heartland. Till Wednesday 4,66,161 students had kept away from the ongoing Board exams.

“These 5.10 lakh students who did not turn up for their papers were those who had got their registration done illegally from different districts. As the candidates were required to bring identity proof along with admit card, many found it difficult to write their exam due to security measures,” said Dinesh Sharma, deputy chief minister.

Sharma said, “One should take pride in the fact that the sanctity of the Board examinations was restored due to strict vigilance. In the past, Class 5 dropouts from bordering states used to apply for UP Board exams. All such illegal practices have now been stopped.”

So far, only 144 copycats were caught from 75 districts this year, he said.

“It’s a big achievement that students have prepared well for the exams and only 144 were caught copying against 58 lakh candidates who registered themselves for the Board examination,” added Sharma.

Neena Srivastava, secretary, UP Board. “This number may go up as compilation of figures from 75 districts is still on.”

On Thursday, high school candidates wrote the English exam while intermediate students appeared for commerce, agriculture, home science and vocational papers.

“Due to tough measures to check copying and to keep fake students away from appearing in examinations, registrations were scrutinised thoroughly. Along with CCTV cams, we have introduced voice recorder system to put an end to use of unfair means in the exam,” she added.

Last year, a record 10,44,619 students – nearly 15% of all those who had registered –skipped the UP Board exams. Later, deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma claimed that 75% of the students, who stayed away from exams, were from other states.

As many as 58,06,922 students were registered for Board exams this year. Of these 31,95,603 were in high school and 26,11,319 for intermediate exams.

First Published: Feb 14, 2019 20:21 IST