Mumbai University dares students to leave the exam hall before an hour

No matter what exam a Mumbai University (MU) student may be appearing for, they will not be allowed to leave the examination hall within one hour of the commencement of an exam. The new directive comes in the wake of the recent Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) paper-leak, in which the Amboli police has arrested 10 people so far for circulating a photo of last Thursday's BMS question paper. The move comes as exams begin for MU commerce students. Around 78,000 students are appearing for the exams in over 260 centres.

Representational pic

The new rule
A student appearing for his/her papers is allowed to enter the exam hall 30 minutes into the tests (but only under certain special circumstances), which the MU says leaves a big gap for indulging in fraudulent practices. In order to prevent a repeat of the BMC paper leak, the new guideline men­tions that if a student needs to leave the exam hall within an hour of the commencement of the exam, he/she would need to submit the question paper to the exam supervisor.

Other measures
New flying squads have been appoin­ted by the varsity, which would make surprise visits to different exam centres to check if the examinations are proceeding as per protocol. "College principals and technology staff will be responsible for ensuring security of question papers," a varsity official said. MU director of examinations and evaluation Dr Arjun Ghatule said, "If people involved in the exam processes are found to be immoral, it's difficult to control corruption. Some college staff members were involved in the BMSâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088incident."