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AHMEDABAD: The good confession of ‘Forgive me Father, for I have sinned’ just saved a year for class 10 copy cats.

With results around the corner, 230 SSC students caught copying from Kawali and Mota Ponda centres in Panchmahal and Valsad districts respectively were summoned for questioning by the examination reforms committee of the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) on Thursday. These students included 96 from the Kawali centre, who had written ‘My Best Friend' essay with Vikas as their best friend who is a great tennis player.

Interestingly, students who confessed to have copied were failed only in the subject they were found to have indulged in the malpractice while those who denied were meted out a harsher punishment.

“Students who confessed to have copied were failed in one subject which means they will be able to appear for the supplementary exams to be held in July. Students who denied copying have been failed in all subjects and will be eligible to sit for board exams only in March 2019,” said board's officer on special duty M M Pathan.

Of the 230 students, 72 confessed to copying while 158 did not accept they had copied.

Board members said that the CDs from Kawali centre have been heavily tampered with. “Teachers who appeared for the hearing said they had not dictated the essay to students. They refrained that lights went off frequently during the exam due to which nothing is visible in the CCTV footage of the exam centre,” said a board official. Board officials said that it was planning to cancel exam centres where mass copying has been reported.

