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AI enters exam hall: Board flags new cheating trend in Secondary examination

Board officials raise alarm after students are allegedly caught using AI tools on mobile phones to search for answers inside Secondary examination halls.

By Snehashis Niyogi

Feb 07, 2026 14:04 IST

Students are taking help from Artificial Intelligence (AI) to write answers in the Secondary examination! Board officials are worried about this new trend in this year's Secondary examination.

Until now, students would hide mobile phones in their clothes and pants, enter the examination hall, take pictures of the question paper as soon as they received it, and send it outside via WhatsApp. Then, when the answers to those questions came back via WhatsApp from outside, they would write them in the answer sheet. But this year, there has been a change in this trend.

Mobile phones seized, AI searches detected

According to board sources, a total of 19 students have been caught red-handed with mobile phones in the examination hall during the first three days of the Secondary examination. The allegation is that when invigilators checked those mobile phones, they found that students had turned on the internet on their mobiles during the History and English examination days and tried to search for answers through AI by typing the specific questions they couldn't write answers to at the last moment.

Also Read | West Bengal board cancels Madhyamik exams of students caught using mobile phones for malpractice in exam halls

Board officials claim this is completely 'unique'. This new trend of mobile phone usage in examination halls has certainly increased the concerns of board officials after checking five mobiles on English day and 13 mobiles on Friday's History day. Even these students were caught with mobile phones at the very last moment of the examination. On Friday, two female students from Maruganj High School in Cooch Behar had their examination centre at Talliguri High School. They were hiding mobile phones inside their clothes and repeatedly going to the bathroom to get help from AI. This raised suspicion among the school authorities. The entire incident came to light when the mobile phones were checked.

‘Reckless attitude', says board official

A senior board official said, "All 18 students who were caught with mobile phones on English and History examination days tried to find out through AI on their mobiles the questions they couldn't answer in the last 30 minutes. This shows the reckless attitude of the students. There's no time left. So they have to write answers to all questions by any means. Therefore, they are compelled to take out mobile phones hidden in secret places. They are also getting caught while writing answers. At least this picture has emerged from the preliminary reports of invigilators."

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Board officials are informing that if caught with mobile phones in the examination hall, their entire examination for this year is being considered cancelled as before. This incident makes it clear that invigilation in examination halls is improving. On this day, a total of eight mobile phones were caught - four each from two centres in Kolkata and Kalimpong. Two from one examination centre in Cooch Behar. The rest were caught from three examination centres in East Bardhaman, Malda and Jalpaiguri, respectively. And on Tuesday, the second day of the Secondary examination, five students' examinations were cancelled. They were students from five schools in West Bardhaman, Birbhum, Murshidabad, North Kolkata and North 24 Parganas.

Alongside this, the board's concern has increased as a section of teacher leaders in Hooghly and Malda are doing overall supervision work for the Secondary examination without board appointment letters. Similarly, in Jalpaiguri, even though the board has not appointed them, a group of teachers are working at the DI office without board permission, according to Nivedita Bhavan sources.

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