Students appearing for SSC and Inter Board exams in the coming months will be debarred for one to eight years if they write the names of Gods or draw any religious symbols on answer scripts.
Every year thousands of students looking for divine intervention write names of Gods on top of answer scripts but the government says that it amounts to communicating with the examiners directly or indirectly which is a punishable offence.
Respective Boards had also directed students not to write pro-Telangana or pro-united AP slogans on answer scripts when regional tempers ran high during the 2010 and 2011 Board exams.
Sources said that most students write the names of Lord Ganesha, Hanuman, Shirdi Sai Baba and Goddess Vijaya Laxmi on top of every page of the answer scripts. Several students also draw religious symbols.
As per existing norms: “Writing anything other than answers on the answer scripts amounts to communicating with the examiners directly or indirectly which is a punishable offence."
Students resorting to such acts can be booked under malpractice and can be debarred from appearing for Board exams from one to eight years. Such answer scripts will not be valued and will be nullified. They will be declared as “failed” candidates, said a source.
While the rules have been in place for years, the Boards had not been implementing them strictly. In the last couple of years, however, the Boards had issued strict warnings to students against writing political slogans like “Jai Telangana” and “Jai Samaikhyandhra” when the T-agitation was at its peak.
However, several students continue to write the names of Gods and draw religious symbols on their answer scripts, which the government and the Boards now aim to control. “Writing political slogans and religious symbols on answer scripts have been giving unnecessary scope for allegations and complaints on evaluation of answer scripts. We want to implement the existing norms strictly from this year to check such practices," said Mr K. Parthasarathi, Minister for Secondary Education.
Officials of SSC and Inter Board said that they would issue necessary instructions to examination staff to inform students in advance about the norms while distributing answer scripts at the exam centres.
"We will alert them in advance against writing such slogans or symbols while distributing answer scripts in the exam centre. If they still do it, they have to face the consequences," said an official of Inter Board.