GSHSEB Class 10 exam: Incidents of mass copying see candidates who couldn't spell own names excel in English paper

Over 200 cases of cheating came to light in the Class 10 examinations conducted by Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Examination Board (GSHSEB) at various examination centres in Panchmahal district, a media report pointed out on Tuesday. Students of Class 10 who could not spell words such as ‘friend’, ‘clever’, ‘fondly’ and ‘tennis’ correctly — or even their own names in English — excelled in the English paper this year using all the mentioned words, among many other adjectives in the subjective part, The Indian Express reported. Instances of mass copying were also discovered in English and Hindi papers. [caption id=“attachment_4426713” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] Of the 230 cases of copying detected by the board, 96 cases were caught and confirmed during Class 10 English paper from one examination centre in Shehara taluka. The hearing of over 130 remaining cases where similar answers and identical mistakes in subjects like Hindi and Sanskrit were observed, has been scheduled for later. Results of the suspicious cases have been withheld, the report said. Students who have been found guilty have been barred from taking examinations for two or three years, the board said. The GSHSEB plans to also undertake stringent action against the concerned teachers, the report added. “This year strict action will be taken against all those involved, right from teachers who assisted in mass copying to the centre supervisors,” the board chairman AJ Shah was quoted as saying. Last month,  The Times of India reported that scrutiny of CCTV footage in GSHSEB exam halls put about 1,800 students under the scanner. The first round of footage scanning reportedly threw up 1,800 students who were suspected to have cheated, as opposed to the 2,500 students caught in the 2017 examinations. The board said that if a student is found asking for help — orally or by using signs — he or she will face action, including the cancellation of the result for the subject in which the violation was detected. In another instance in May, GSHEB officials were reported to have found 200 kilograms of chits from a single examination centre during the class XII science exam. “We had filed copy cases against 15 students and started collecting the copy materials which were either submitted by the students or found by the board officials. We ended up collecting 200 kilograms of chits,” an official said.