UP Board examinee count more than population of 117 nations individually

PRAYAGRAJ: This year, over 5.6 million (56,07,118) students have registered for UP Board’s high school and intermediate examinations, which is more than the population of around 117 countries of the world, individually, including New Zealand, Kuwait, Norway, Finland and Ireland (each having a population of below 56 lakh).

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The Board, which was set up in 1921 at Allahabad by an act of United Provinces Legislative Council, conducted its first examination in 1923. In 97 years, the examinee strength in its high school and intermediate exams has increased 976 times.

As per records, 5,744 students appeared in the first Board examinations held at 179 centres in 1923 (5,655 in high school and 89 in Intermediate).

In a span of 97 years, the count of examinees swelled from 5,744 in 1923 to 56,07,118 in 2020 (including 25,14,827 in high School and 25,84,511 in Intermediate).

Records of the Board revealed, in 1947, the year India achieved independence the examinee count swelled to 48,519 for which 224 examination centres were made. Similarly, the count further increased to 1,72,246 in 1952.

To ensure proper management, the UP Board gradually opened its five regional offices in Meerut (1973), Varanasi (1978), Bareilly (1981), Prayagraj (1987) and Gorakhpur (2017), which are under the control of regional secretaries appointed by the Board.

According to UP Board secretary Nina Srivastava, the regular rise in number of examinees in high school and intermediate examinations had increased work load of the Board.

“The Board has also gradually adopted ways to ensure smooth routine functioning by way of creation of five regional offices over the years besides adopting various anti-copying measures for holding fair examinations,” she said.

CAPTION : UP Board headquarter in Prayagraj.