BENGALURU: Students writing the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examinations in March/April 2019 will not be allowed to wear wristwatches to the examination hall.
In this age of smartwatches, many of which have in-built recording and other advanced features which could help a student cheat, the Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) has decided to ban wearing of wristwatches.
The board, though, has decided to put up wall clocks in each examination hall to help students maintain time.
V Sumangala, director, KSEEB, said, “To curb malpractices during SSLC examinations, we have decided not to allow wristwatches in the coming March/April 2019 examinations. We will issue a detailed circular after finalising the timetable.”
KSEEB introduced several reforms for the March/April 2018 examinations, which include the installation of CCTV cameras at all examination centres, ID cards for all staff associated with the exams and banning of mobile phones inside examination halls, including those of supervisors.
The board took this decision following cases of malpractice reported at other university examinations, where students were caught using gadgets and other electronic devices, including wristwatches, to cheat.
A few years ago, a student of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences was caught copying, using hi-tech gadgets during examinations. The student had stitched in a bluetooth device, connected to his wristwatch, inside his shirt collar to access information.
Wristwatches, metal ornaments and electronic gadgets have been banned at competitive examinations like the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), National Eligibility Test for the post of assistant professors and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE).