In a significant scam, approximately 2,000 male students falsely registered as female candidates to sit for semester exams at three private colleges affiliated with Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University in Agra, as reported by Economic Times Education.
The fraud was discovered during routine inspections of student enrollment records and exam arrangements at Major Angad Singh Mahavidyalaya, SBD College of Science and Education in Mainpuri, and Gulkandi Lalaram Mahavidyalaya in Mathura.
Discrepancies noted
The irregularity was uncovered on Tuesday, November 26, when discrepancies in student numbers across the first, second, and third shifts were noticed.
Enrollment records indicated that the actual number of students was significantly lower than the total seating capacity at the exam centres.These colleges are designated as 'self-centres,' which allows institutions with a higher number of female students to conduct exams independently, using their staff members as invigilators.
The CCTV footage revealed...
A subsequent review of CCTV footage confirmed the malpractice, showing male students sitting for exams at these centres, often in larger numbers than female students.
In some instances, entire rooms were filled exclusively with male candidates. As a result, the university promptly cancelled exams at all three centres pending further investigation.
As per the Economic Times Education report, the scam is suspected to have been orchestrated with the involvement of the administrators of these colleges to allow mass cheating and improve pass percentage.
The university has said that they have launched an investigation, and will take actions based on it. They also added that they are examining records from other colleges as well to see if similar malpractices have taken place elsewhere.
