With the recent report prepared by the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) on Friday after cross verifying the figures from the footage of closed circuit television (CCTV) and tablets installed in the exam centres across the state, the number of copying cases comes out to be 7,448. Anand district has emerged as the largest offender with 4,173 cases. Earlier, the report submitted by the district education officer (DEO) showed only 72 copying cases from the district. The previous report of copying cases detected from the CCTV cameras and tablets submitted by the DEOs showed the total number of 3,040 copying cases in the state, adding both Class X and Class XII (General and Science streams). But more surprising is the fact that while in many districts the numbers have increased in the recent report. However, a few districts that had earlier reported copying cases in triple digits don’t have a single case while in others either the numbers have reduced to half or even less than that. For instance, the blatant case is of Kheda district. While the previous report prepared in April stated 319 copying cases from Class X and XII, it does not have a single case in either of the classes in the recent report prepared on Friday. Another example where the copying cases have drastically reduced is Narmada district. While the initial report mentioned 174 copying cases, the recent report has reduced it to zero. The numbers of Tapi district too have reduced from 170 to only 20. Similarly, in Valsad the drastic reduction of copying cases is from 338 to 53. When questioned about this discrepancy in the number of copying cases, deputy chairman of GSHSEB R R Thakkar said, “The board is taking action against such districts where the numbers are varying on a large extent. Even today, showcause notices have been issued to DEOs of two more districts — the Panchmahals and Dahod.” The GSHSEB has installed thousands of CCTV cameras and tablets that covered over a total of 59,000 centres (35,000 examination centres of Class X and over 24,000 of Class XII) and generated over 76,000 compact discs (CDs).
