Yogi govt to go after cheating mafia

Aiming to curb the activities of "cheating mafia", the Yogi Adityanath led Uttar Pradesh government has directed officials to blacklist centres where mass copying takes place and register FIRs in this regard.

The newly elected BJP government has also decided that FIRs would also be registered against government teachers who are found running private coaching institutions.

The state government has decided to come up with guidelines to curtail exorbitant school fees charged by private schools and colleges. In a meeting which Chief Minister Adityanath held with education department officials, it was decided that school examinations should be held over a span of 15 days and the results out in the next 15 days.

"The endeavour of the government will be to ensure that examinations are held timely and on the other hand, efforts will also be made to curb cheating and use of unfair means during examinations," an official spokesperson of the Uttar Pradesh government said.

He added that the government would act tough on examination centres from where instances of copying are reported and also against persons involved in mass copying.

"The state government will blacklist such centres and register FIRs," the spokesperson added. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minster Yogi Adityanath, watched a presentation of the Education Department at Shastri Bhawan, late last night where he "emphasised on the need to improve the quality and level of education, for which cheating mafia has to be effectively curbed", officials said.

In the meeting, the chief minister made clear his strict stance on coaching classes run by teachers of government schools and government-affiliated colleges. FIRs would be registered against such teachers, officials said. "Efforts should be made to ensure that the syllabus in schools in completed in 200 days. Attendance of teachers and students in the schools will be monitored using biometric devices. Apart from this, steps will be taken to ensure regular classes," the spokesperson said.