Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Several districts in Madhya Pradesh have failed to comply with the rules set by the Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education (MPBSE) to prevent exam malpractices. Over half of the districts proposed examination centres with a capacity of fewer than 250 students, violating the board’s regulations.
Additionally, some districts allocated exam centres in the same schools where students are enrolled. Upon receiving the list, MPBSE instructed these districts to revise and correct the discrepancies to ensure compliance. The MPBSE’s annual examinations for the 2024-25 session will begin on February 25, 2025, with more than 18 lakh students expected to appear.
Around 3,500 exam centres will be established statewide. The selection of these centres was to be finalized by September 30, with the final list to be published by November 30, as per a High Court directive. According to MPBSE guidelines, centres with a capacity of fewer than 250 students cannot be approved, and schools found guilty of malpractices or irregularities in the past three years are not eligible to serve as exam centres. If centres from the 2024 exams are not proposed for 2025, the reasons must be justified.
Self-study candidates must be allotted government schools as their exam centres. Despite these clear guidelines, many districts have proposed centres with insufficient capacity and allocated exam centres within the same schools where students are enrolled. The board has also imposed restrictions on the distance of exam centres. In urban areas, exam centres must not be more than 5 km away from the students’ schools, while in rural areas, the maximum distance allowed is 10 km. Any exceptions require valid justification.
