Many students smuggled² in textbooks and notes into the examination centres despite tight security - and parents and friends were photographed scaling the walls of test centres to pass on answers to students during the current secondary school examinations. 

 

The examinations, held by the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB), began on Tuesday and are scheduled to go on until 24 March. Officials say more than 1.4 million students are taking the tests.

 

Most of the incidents of cheating this year have been reported from Saharsa, Chhapra, Vaishali and Hajipur districts. 

 

Local newspapers have been full of photos of parents and relatives trying to help their children cheat even at considerable risk to their own lives, BBC Hindi's Manish Saandilya reports from the state capital,Patna. 

 

Some photos even show policemen posted outside the centres accepting bribes³ to look the other way, our correspondent adds.

 

Photojournalist Dipankar, who took the photos in Saharsa district, says when he went into the examination hall and began taking pictures, the students did not seem worried at all.

 

Despite the many reports that have appeared in the local newspapers, the authorities seem uninterested in taking any action against the students, he says. 

 

Dipankar says during a raid at just one school on Wednesday, the authorities seized sheets containing answers which filled up nine sacks.

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