The UP Board exams have created a history but a controversial history. UP Board exams have always been under the radar as many cases have been reported of cheating and use of unfair means in the examination.

The Uttar Pradesh exams for class 10th and 12th began on February 06, 2018 and as many as 66.37 lakh students had registered for the board exams. Of this, 36,55,691 students registered for Class 10th and 29,81,387 for Class 12th. As per UP Board time table 2018, the exam for class 10th will conclude on February 22 while the class 12th exams will end on March 14, 2018.

Consistent efforts were put in to prevent cheating and paper leaks, however, the Uttar Pradesh board exams found its way into controversy. To prevent any trouble, CCTV cameras were installed at exam centres, examination centres were allocated online, a special task force was deployed, a personal inspection by UP deputy CM Dinesh Sharma was done at some centres.

However, on February 9, 2018, a seal of the envelope for English question paper was found to be broken and consequently, a case was registered. Due to this about 84-85 centres were affected but later on, they were given different sets of papers. In another incident in Mathura, the Second paper of intermediate exams was leaked a day before the exam from Shri Giriraj Baba Saraswati Vidyalaya in Shahpur Chainpur.

As per the figures released by Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UPMSP) showed that, so far, 13 FIRs have been lodged against invigilators, principals, who are also centre superintendents, school managers and others.

For this year’s High School and Intermediate examinations, the UP Board has yet again set its dropout record. Over 10 lakh students have skipped the UP board examinations in the last four days, until Friday. It is for the first time in over nine-decade history of the Board that such a large number of examinees quit the examination. Some critics have cited the reason for such a number of drop out due to the strict anti-cheating measures implemented by the board.

  • Number of absentees on day 1 – Around 1.8 lakh students did not show up for the examination on day 1.
  • Number of absentees on day 2 – The number increased to around 5.05 lakh on the second day.

Of these figures, 3,79,782 were high school students who did not appear for the exam, and 2,53,435 in the intermediate.

Data from secondary sources taken from upmsp.edu.in.

The figures are definitely shocking to which UP Chef Minister, Yogi Adityanath said that

When we said let’s conduct a cheating-free exam (then) 10 lakhs students dropped out. This is the figure until now. I don’t know what will happen in future.

However, the CM not only insisted on making cheating free exam but also put an emphasis on the need to make examinations simpler. There is no doubt in it that a fear of exams is being created among students by parents, teachers, in all by the society.

The respective government in thinks regard should observe the problem and find a way on how the exam can be further simplified. The exams should not be looked like as a challenge but as a part of the daily routine. Also, parents and teachers should not impose any kind of barriers or pressure on the students and provide them with a conducive climate to cope up with exams.

If the past one decade of UP Board records is assessed, a noticeable fluctuation in the overall pass percentage in both Class 10th and 12th examinations is seen. The reason for this could be same as to why 10 lakh students dropped exams this year.

The highest dropout figure in the board’s history was recorded in 2016 when over 6.4 lakh students skipped the exams. Even in the year 1991 and 1992, the dropout record for UP Board exams stood at 1.3 lakh and 1.6 lakh, respectively. The only difference back then was that the number of students registering for the exam was comparatively lower than now.

With the strict surveillance, the education department officials expected high dropouts, but nobody was expecting the numbers to go this high. The dropouts are categories as mainly as those students who get enrolled in UP schools not to study, but only to appear in examinations. They are usually those students who could not qualify for the exam in previous years and are guaranteed a sure success by the education mafia.

The number of dropouts this year are no doubt extraordinarily high, however, it shows how serious is the UP Govt. to provide quality education to the students. This is the first move towards better education.

Cheating in school is a form of self-deception. We go to school to learn. We cheat ourselves when we coast on the efforts and scholarship of someone else.

If you fail an examination, it means you have not yet mastered the subject. But with diligent study and understanding, you will succeed in passing the exams.