Staffers exchanged, restricted access: Increased security at the single HSC exam-centre declared as ‘sensitive’ in Mumbai district

A sojourn to the assemblage revealed rigorous information measures to guarantee due behaviour of the exams. The unit conducting the exams had been exchanged, with unit coming from different  schools. However, nary of them had the Maharashtra authorities board-issued individuality cards for HSC exam staff, arsenic announced by the authorities committee earlier. Instead, the authorities committee had provided a database of approved outer staff, and they entered the field utilizing their archetypal school-issued individuality cards.

The field had choky information protocols, including closed gates and restricted entree to lone those with valid individuality cards. Additional information unit were deployed connected each level of the inferior assemblage building. However, the expected usage of face-recognition exertion and drone surveillance, which had been publicized by the Maharashtra authorities board, was absent astatine this centre.

Suman Singh, the head of Patuck Junior College, spoke astir the strict arrangements. “We person cooperated with the committee and made each indispensable arrangements for outer unit to behaviour exams portion our ain unit person been deployed astatine different centres. Our extremity is to behaviour a creaseless introspection without immoderate malpractice,” she said.

Stating that it was a shocker for the assemblage to beryllium marked arsenic a delicate exam centre, Singh pointed retired that the assemblage had been a respected acquisition instauration and an HSC-SSC exam centre for respective years. “There was 1 isolated lawsuit of copying successful 2018, and we don’t recognize wherefore we were identified arsenic a delicate exam centre based connected that,” she added.

Rajendra Ahire, chairperson of the Mumbai part of the Maharashtra State Board, clarified that delicate centres are designated based connected past incidents of copying which happened astatine an exam centre and were detected by flying squads. “If a transcript lawsuit is spotted by the centre, it is not considered delicate arsenic it was vigilant capable to spot and study the case. But present our flying-squad spotted the copy-case,” helium said.

Regarding the lack of drone surveillance and face-recognition technology, Ahire said, “These measures are not applied universally arsenic determination are applicable issues progressive specified arsenic drone permissions etc. Thus, these measures are implemented based connected the level of sensitivity expected astatine each centre which was not the lawsuit here.”