Strict monitoring measures in place, including GPS tracking, facial recognition, and vigilance committees under district collectors
Teachers and support staff preparing for tomorrow’s SSC exam. Pic/Ashish Raje
A total of 16,11,610 students have registered for the state board examination of Std X. The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary & Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) has nine divisional boards in Pune, Nagpur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Mumbai, Kolhapur, Amravati, Nashik, Latur, and Konkan.
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Overall, the number of male candidates is higher than female candidates in every division, and the representation of transgender students remains very low. The largest student populations are concentrated in urban divisions like Mumbai and Pune, while rural regions like Konkan have significantly fewer candidates.
Among those registered are 8,64,120 boys, 7,47,471 girls, and 19 are transgender students. These students belong to 23,492 secondary schools across the state. Mumbai division has the highest number of candidates with 3,60,317 students (1,88,367 boys, 1,71,948 girls, and two transgender students). Konkan division has the lowest number of candidates with 27,398 students (14,194 boys, 13,204 girls, and no transgender students).
Besides Mumbai, other divisions with high enrolments include Pune (2,75,004 students), Nashik (2,02,613 students), and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (1,89,379 students). Among the 19 transgender candidates across the state, the highest number are in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (seven) and Amravati (six). The exams will be conducted at 5130 main centres throughout Maharashtra. To ensure that no student is deprived of the exam, the board extended the online application deadline until February 20, 2025.
Chairman speaks
Sharad Gosavi, the chairman of the board said, “The board has taken utmost care that the students do not waste their academic year at all. The class improvement exam will be held in July. Students can also avail the ‘allow to keep terms facility’ (ATKT).
“Students unable to attend practical, oral, graded, or internal assessment exams due to medical or unavoidable reasons within the prescribed schedule, these exams will be conducted out of turn from March 18 to March 20, 2025, after the written examinations. Marks for practical, oral, internal, and graded exams will be submitted through an online system. The divisional boards have provided the necessary links and detailed instructions to all secondary schools regarding this process. All secondary schools have been instructed to inform students about these measures from time to time. Students should contact their respective schools for further details and should not fall prey to any malpractice-related temptations,” Gosavi said.
He added, “Many students experience stress, anxiety, or negative thoughts during exams. To assist them, the board has appointed 10 counsellors at the state level. Additionally, each divisional board has appointed two counsellors per district to provide guidance and answer students’ queries. A helpline service has been made available at the state and divisional board levels to support students.”
Other preparations
To maintain the secrecy of question papers, assistant supervisors (runners) responsible for transporting question papers to exam centres and collecting answer sheets must keep their GPS systems active at all times. Similar to the previous year, an extra 10 minutes will be given at the end of the scheduled time for each paper. For the Concessions for Differently-Abled Students: Eligible students with disabilities will receive benefits as per the government resolution dated October 16, 2018. If any exam centres are found guilty of malpractice, they will face permanent disqualification for future exams.
The board officials added that to prevent possible malpractices during the examination period, the Maharashtra State Board has deployed 271 flying squads across the state. Additionally, vigilance committees under the chairmanship of district collectors are operational in each district, and special flying squads have been set up in some divisional boards.
Facial Recognition System (FRS) will be used to verify the identity of centre directors, supervisors, and other examination staff appointed by the district administration. Additionally, all personnel involved in the examination process will be provided with official identity cards by the divisional board. The Maharashtra Prevention of Malpractices Act, 1982, will be strictly enforced.
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