Ignoring the fact that literacy is down by a few notches, officials of UP’s Education department were very happy about the dropout. The general refrain among them was: “Students who wanted to cheat did not dare to write the exams this year.”

Director of the Secondary Education Department K M Tripathi said, “It is a large number, but we are proud of our achievement. We had ensured students who carried cheating material would not be able to enter exam centres. That is why most did not turn up, while some fled the scene when they saw the extent of the checking.”

The dropout rate was so high in some areas that less than five per cent of candidates were seen writing the paper on day one in concerned centres. In the Government Girls Inter College in Balia, 1,139 students of the Jyoti Model Inter College were supposed to take the exam. But only 62 turned up. A majority of the students in this batch were also from other districts.

District Inspector of Schools, Balia, Vijay Mishra said, “The arrangements were foolproof. It is surprising that so many students decided to stay away. I am more surprised that there was not a single complaint from the organisers about any mischief.”