U.P. high school board to consider STF report to select centres

Board secretary Divyakant Shukla said the STF has prepared a list of around 140 institutions where irregularities were committed in competitive examinations.

The state board of high school and intermediate education will debar centres where irregularities were committed during competitive exams, from holding board exams of classes 10 and 12 in 2023. For this, it will consider a report by the Special Task Force (STF), which has prepared a list of 140 such institutions.

State high school and intermediate education board headquarters in Prayagraj (File)

This is also the first time when the board will consider an STF report to determine the centres for the exams. Till now, the board debarred only those centres that had indulged in malpractice in classes 10 and 12 examinations. But, for the first time in 2023, anomalies during the conduct of any competitive exams will disqualify schools to host the board exams, said officials of the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad.

Confirming the move, board secretary Divyakant Shukla said, “The STF has prepared a list of around 140 institutions where irregularities were committed in competitive examinations. Some of these institutions are in Prayagraj, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Jaunpur and Kanpur.”

Officials said the STF list contains names of examination centres where irregularities were committed during the revenue accountant and other recruitment examinations. To collate the data, information from mobile phones of the accused arrested for similar offences since 2017, were analysed.

The STF list includes 31 schools from Prayagraj. “After the meeting of the examination committee, the list of these debarred schools will be released this month itself,” another senior board official confirmed.