UP government schools: Exam Centres to now have CCTV cameras
What's the story
The UP state government has decided to provide all school examination centres with CCTV cameras by December 2017 to deter the use of unfair practices by students. Chief secretary Rajive Kumar said "Beginning next academic session, all examinations will be conducted under the watch of cameras. Buildings or premises that do not have cameras will not be made examination centres." Here's more about it!
Necessity
Why did this step become necessary?
UP has often faced situation of mass copying. In 2016, 57 students and 14 teachers were booked for mass copying. This issue was raked up during the UP Assembly elections with BJP accusing SP of helping the "copying mafia." Reports of copying have been received from Aligarh, Pratapgarh, Mathura, Ghazipur among others, though the board says that steps have been taken to reduce copying.
State government
What else did the state government decide?
The chief secretary highlighted the government's decision to provide quality education and asked officials to prepare an action plan for primary education. He said parent-teacher meetings and mandatory 100% attendance of students and teachers is necessary for improving students' progress. He suggested that schools which had a higher number of teachers should deploy teachers to schools which have a lower number of teaching staff.