HYDERABAD, April 15: A total of 704 students had been caught using unfair means till Monday in Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Part-I and II examinations since the exams began on April 9, reported monitoring teams of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE), Hyderabad.

The huge number included 206 cases of copying and 49 cases of impersonating another student, the teams reported to BISE chairman Prof Eng Abdul Aleem Khanzada at a meeting held here on Monday.

Team officials told the meeting that around 115,000 candidates were appearing for SSC part I and II exams in 206 examination centres in nine districts under the jurisdiction of BISE Hyderabad.

They are; Hyderabad, Badin, Matiari, Shaheed Benazirabad, Jamshoro, Dadu, Tando Mohammad Khan, Tando Allahyar and Thatta. The officials stressed on improving security arrangements in examination centres.

Speaking at the meeting, BISE chairman Prof Khanzada expressed his satisfaction over the performance and efficiency of monitoring teams and other staff during examinations which would continue till April 18. He said that it was the responsibility of examination centres’ staff to stop the use of mobile phones and other unfair means during exams.

Mirpurkhas correspondent adds: Candidates appearing for SSC part I and II exams in Umerkot, Tharparkar, Sanghar and Mirpurkhas districts are openly using unfair means despite visits by surveillance teams of the BISE Mirpurkhas.

Instead of discouraging the menace, the invigilation staff at exam centres condone and in most cases even facilitate them in solving their papers.

According to a press release issued by BISE Mirpurkhas on Monday, surveillance teams headed by Prof Abdul Hameed Shaikh had carried out inspection visits at various examination centres and caught many students cheating, including eight copy cases.