BHUBANESWAR: Taking stringent measures to prevent question paper leaks and malpractice during the High School Certificate (HSC) examination, the State Government on Saturday asked police to arrest teachers or individuals found entering examination centres with mobile phones.
Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy, who reviewed preparation for the examination through video-conferencing, asked the district officials to ensure complete ban on use of mobile phones and any such gadgets at examination, nodal and evaluation centres.
He asked the Collectors and SPs to ensure full-proof arrangement for the examination to be conducted by the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) from February 19.
The BSE, district administration and School and Mass Education officials have been asked to ensure that no person other than those in examination duty is allowed to entre inside examination centres at any cost. They were also asked remain vigilant to counter any rumour on leakage of question papers on social media.
The SPs were asked to increase patrolling around the centres during examination and deploy more police force at sensitive centres.
The Chief Secretary stressed on smooth transfer of question sets and confidential papers related to examination centres on the day of examination which will continue till March 2.
School and Mass Education Secretary Chithra Arumugam said over 5.6 lakh students, including 9,771 from open school and 3,337 Madhyama, will appear the matriculation examination this year.
To make the examination process smooth and transparent, the BSE has set up 2,888 examination centres, 307 nodal centres and 61 evaluation centres.
A total 69 flying squads and 44 special squads have been formed. The answer sheets will be evaluated between March 18 and April 10.