Pune: Maharashtra SSC Exams Start Across Maharashtra; Over 16 Lakh Students Appearing For Exam
Pune, 21st February 2025: The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education has commenced the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations today across its nine divisional boards in Pune, Nagpur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Mumbai, Kolhapur, Amravati, Nashik, Latur, and Konkan. A total of 16,11,610 students have registered for the exam, including 8,64,120 boys, 7,47,471 girls, and 19 transgender candidates. To ease student anxiety, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) members welcomed candidates at Pune’s NMV School with a traditional ‘aukshan’ and a rose flower.
A total of 23,492 secondary schools have registered students for the SSC exams, which are being conducted across 5,130 examination centers statewide. The first exam paper today was Marathi. To ensure students feel comfortable, school staff and volunteers greeted them warmly with traditional rituals and flowers.
Some students expressed that while they were well-prepared, they still felt anxious about the first paper. However, the warm welcome helped alleviate stress, giving them confidence for a good exam performance.
The Maharashtra Board has taken several initiatives to support students during the exam period. Recognizing the mental stress that many students face, the board has appointed 10 counselors at the state level and two counselors per district at the divisional level to provide guidance and resolve queries. A control room and helpline services have also been made available across all nine divisions to assist students.
To ensure strict examination protocols, assistant invigilators (runners) have been assigned to all exam centers. They are responsible for securely transporting confidential exam papers and answer sheets while recording the entire process on mobile devices. GPS tracking has also been mandated to monitor the movement of question papers and answer sheets to maintain secrecy.
All students have been instructed to arrive at their respective exam centers at least 30 minutes before the scheduled exam time. This guideline has been communicated through schools and is also mentioned on the students’ admit cards.
To curb any instances of misconduct, the board has announced that if cases of malpractice are found at any exam center, those centers will permanently lose their recognition for future examinations. District Collectors and vigilance committees have been authorized to take necessary actions to ensure the transparency of the exams.
The board has also requested the support of district collectors, divisional commissioners, and administrative officers to enforce a ‘copy-free’ campaign. A total of 271 Bharari Pathak have been deployed statewide to monitor exam centers. Additionally, sensitive centers will be monitored using drone cameras, and district authorities had conducted a pre-exam inspections to ensure all necessary facilities are in place.
Video surveillance will be implemented outside exam centers, and government officials will oversee the exams to prevent cheating. A facial recognition system will verify the identities of exam officials, supervisors, and candidates. Official identity cards will also be issued to all exam-related personnel.
As per the Maharashtra Prevention of Malpractices Act, 1982, any individuals found promoting, assisting, or directly engaging in malpractice will face strict legal action, including non-bailable offenses. Moreover, all photocopying centers within a 500-meter radius of exam centers will remain closed during the examination period, and Section 163 will be enforced in these areas.
