NASHIK: HSC and SSC students reporting to examination centres late will be turned away, irrespective of the reasons. Till now, students reporting to exam centres late by 10 to 20 minutes due to unavoidable circumstances were allowed to sit for their papers after getting a nod from board officials. The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) has announced that students will not get entry into examination centres after 10.30 am and 3:00 pm when written exams begin. SSC exams began on Tuesday, while HSC exams had started from March 4.
Students will be given the question papers 10 minutes before the scheduled exam time. However, the officials have also said that students reaching at the time when the exam starts, i.e., 10.30 am session, and 3:00 pm session will be allowed to attend the exam in special cases with the permission from Division President or Secretary only if the student has a valid reason. This decision is taken to avoid the education loss of the students. However, no entries will be allowed once the exam starts even in special cases.
MSBSHSE has released fresh guidelines for late entry at HSC and SSC exam centres for students in the state. The board has removed the earlier provision that allowed students to attend the exam even after reaching the examination hall 10 minutes late with valid reasons. The provision allowed students to attend the exam after permission from the Divisional President or Secretary if the student has a valid reason to reach late.
However, the board has now removed this provision, and it has cleared that under no circumstances the students will be allowed to attend the exam if they are late to reach the examination hall. The decision comes after incidents of question paper leak were reported in the state. The copies of leaked question papers were found in the mobile phones of some students reaching late at the examination hall, following which board officials have also registered cases against them.
“To prohibit these illegal activities the board has decided to remove this provision from 16 March and students will have to reach the examination centre one hour before the exam time and they should be seated in the examination hall 10 minutes before the exam starts,” the board said in a statement.
