The newly appointed provincial minister for universities and boards, Ismail Rahu, has said that the copy culture will be discouraged in the ongoing exams at any cost.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, he said exams were being conducted in more than 800 examination centres across Sindh, the boards had made some tangible arrangements to prevent cheating, and the vigilance teams caught as many as 79 students, including 46 students in Sukkur, 26 in Hyderabad and six in Mirpurkhas, using unfair means in exams on Tuesday.
Three invigilators in Sukkur and Mirpurjhas were suspended for negligence on duty, he added. The minister said the vigilance teams had also confiscated a number of mobile phones of students.
During the day, as many as 204 vigilance teams visited examination centres in the morning and evening shifts to check the exam process. He said the students and examiners were not allowed to enter the examination centres without masks. There would be a complete ban on bringing mobile phones to the examination centers else strict legal action would be taken against violators.
Rahu said that all the chairmen of the boards had been directed to closely monitor the examination centres, and all photo state shops nearby the examination centers would remain closed during the exam time. The administration and police had been directed to not allow any person to stand inside or outside the examination centres, he added.