WBBSE mulls use of metal detectors to curb cheating during exams

Kolkata: The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) is planning to use metal detectors to prevent students from entering into examination halls with mobile phones or other banned electronic gadgets. The move comes in the wake of a number of question papers getting circulated on WhatsApp within an hour of the commencement of board examination this year.

"We have not yet finalised the use of metal detectors in examination venues. We have held a preliminary meeting to discuss the matter," said Kalyanmoy Ganguly, WBBSE president.

A senior official of the body, which is responsible for holding the Madyamik examination in the state, said that the board needs to finalise whether the technology would be used in all 3,000 venues where the examinations are held, or in those centres that have a past history of students being involved in adopting unfair means by entering into the examination hall with cell phones. The board plans to use the gadget from the 2020 Madhyamik examination onwards. The metal detectors available in the market are priced in the range of Rs 1,000 to Rs 3,000 and are common in Metro stations and shopping malls in the city.

"We had adopted a slew of measures to curb malpractices during examination and the invigilators were instructed to maintain strict vigil. There were as many as 136 cases of adopting unfair means that were presented before us, among which we exonerated 63. The examination papers of 73 students were cancelled. A number of these candidates were caught with mobile phones inside the examination hall," a senior official of WBBSE said.

The board officials informed that the candidates whose examination was cancelled will be allowed to sit for the examination in 2020. The Board had earlier threatened to cancel the registration of the candidates who were caught with mobile phones, but later took a soft stand considering the career of the students. It was the first time this year that sealed packets of question papers were opened in the examination hall by the invigilator and distributed immediately among the students.