Copying: 34 schools asked to pay fine or lose affiliation

CHANDIGARH: All the 34 schools caught allowing students of Class X and XII to use unfair means during the annual examination of the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB), last year stand to lose their affiliation in case they fail to deposit 50 per cent of the fine till March-end.

34 schools caught allowing students to use unfair means during the annual examination of the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB), last year stand to lose their affiliation.

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 10

All the 34 schools caught allowing students of Class X and XII to use unfair means during the annual examination of the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB), last year stand to lose their affiliation in case they fail to deposit 50 per cent of the fine till March-end.

As many as 4,839 students were caught cheating at different centres in Tarn Taran district last year. The fine has been calculated at a rate of Rs 25,000 per dummy student caught. The message from Chairman of the PSEB Manohar Kant Kalohia comes after the board has decided to dismiss the appeal for a fine waiver from the schools.

“We have decided that 50 per cent of the fine will be paid in the first instalment by March end. The remaining 50 per cent can be paid in two instalments,” the chairman said.

The chairman said, “We have given time to the schools, so that study of the currently enrolled students is not affected. At the same time we cannot allow the concession of waiving the fine completely and set any wrong example for others.”

Shaheed Baba Deep Singh Senior Secondary School, Patti, has been fined Rs 1.59 crore for allowing as many as 637 students use unfair means. Other schools that have been fined more than Rs 50 lakh each for wrongly helping more than 200 students included Sri Guru Hargobind Public School (Manochahal), Surat Singh Teja Singh Memorial Sant Farid Senior Secondary School (Toot), Balaji Senior Secondary Senior Secondary School (Khemkaran), Sahibzada Ajit Singh Public Senior Secondary School (Varnala), Sant Baba Suba Singh Sardar Hari Singh Senior Secondary School (Nanadpur) and Sant Sipahi Public Senior Secondary School (Ghariala). The Majha College for Women has been fined Rs 25,000 for allowing copying to just one student.

Patti SDM Surinder Singh had filed a report after his inquiry on incidents of mass copying that came to light after raids by senior officials of the department. The report had pointed out that the practice of allowing cheating in these schools of the area had been going on for the past few decades.

In clear violation of rules, open school students from other districts appeared in schools of Tarn Taran district. Students who appear through open school are supposed to take exams in their respective districts. But they got fake residential certificates from sarpanches and appeared in the border district, the report had indicated. The report had also named a senior principal of a government school for facilitating mass copying.

Patti school to pay Rs 1.59 cr

These schools were caught allowing students of Classes X and XII to use unfair means during the PSEB exams last year.
One of these schools, Shaheed Baba Deep Singh Senior Secondary School, Patti, has been fined Rs 1.59 crore for allowing as many as 637 students use unfair means.