SSC exams: 271 flying squads to monitor and prevent cheating

A total of 1611610 students have registered for the state board examination of Std X The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary amp Higher Secondary Education MSBSHSE has nine divisional boards in Pune Nagpur Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Mumbai Kolhapur Amravati Nashik Latur and KonkanOverall the number of male candidates is higher than female candidates in every division and the representation of transgender students remains very low The largest student populations are concentrated in urban divisions like Mumbai and Pune while rural regions like Konkan have significantly fewer candidatesAmong those registered are 864120 boys 747471 girls and 19 are transgender students These students belong to 23492 secondary schools across the state Mumbai division has the highest number of candidates with 360317 students 188367 boys 171948 girls and two transgender students Konkan division has the lowest number of candidates with 27398 students 14194 boys 13204 girls and no transgender studentsBesides Mumbai other divisions with high enrolments include Pune 275004 students Nashik 202613 students and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar 189379 students Among the 19 transgender candidates across the state the highest number are in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar seven and Amravati six The exams will be conducted at 5130 main centres throughout Maharashtra To ensure that no student is deprived of the exam the board extended the online application deadline until February 20 2025Chairman speaksSharad Gosavi the chairman of the board said ldquoThe board has taken utmost care that the students do not waste their academic year at all The class improvement exam will be held in July Students can also avail the lsquoallow to keep terms facilityrsquo ATKTldquoStudents unable to attend practical oral graded or internal assessment exams due to medical or unavoidable reasons within the prescribed schedule these exams will be conducted out of turn from March 18 to March 20 2025 after the written examinations Marks for practical oral internal and graded exams will be submitted through an online system The divisional boards have provided the necessary links and detailed instructions to all secondary schools regarding this process All secondary schools have been instructed to inform students about these measures from time to time Students should contact their respective schools for further details and should not fall prey to any malpracticerelated temptationsrdquo Gosavi saidHe added ldquoMany students experience stress anxiety or negative thoughts during exams To assist them the board has appointed 10 counsellors at the state level Additionally each divisional board has appointed two counsellors per district to provide guidance and answer studentsrsquo queries A helpline service has been made available at the state and divisional board levels to support studentsrdquoOther preparationsTo maintain the secrecy of question papers assistant supervisors runners responsible for transporting question papers to exam centres and collecting answer sheets must keep their GPS systems active at all times Similar to the previous year an extra 10 minutes will be given at the end of the scheduled time for each paper For the Concessions for DifferentlyAbled Students Eligible students with disabilities will receive benefits as per the government resolution dated October 16 2018 If any exam centres are found guilty of malpractice they will face permanent disqualification for future examsThe board officials added that to prevent possible malpractices during the examination period the Maharashtra State Board has deployed 271 flying squads across the state Additionally vigilance committees under the chairmanship of district collectors are operational in each district and special flying squads have been set up in some divisional boardsFacial Recognition System FRS will be used to verify the identity of centre directors supervisors and other examination staff appointed by the district administration Additionally all personnel involved in the examination process will be provided with official identity cards by the divisional board The Maharashtra Prevention of Malpractices Act 1982 will be strictly enforced