Mathura: Around 13,000 students have dropped out from the Uttar Pradesh board examinations for classes 10th and 12th in the district this year, District Magistrate Nitin Bansal said on Friday.

"While around 7,500 students dropped out of High School, 5,500 students dropped out of Intermediate in the district this year," he said. The District Magistrate said the drop-out figures may be a result of the administration's strict action against mass copying. He said immediate action has been taken against centre superintendents and invigilators allegedly involved in such incidents.

Relatives and friends “assisting” students in writing the Board examinations from outside the examination hall in Uttar Pradesh (file photo).

"Recently, centre superintendent of Tilak Singh Inter College Neemgaon, Jitendra Pal Singh was replaced by Kishan Mohan Sharma, a lecturer in Rastriya Inter college, Raya. An FIR has also been registered against five invigilators in this regard," Bansal said. "A total of 39 students have been booked for cheating in the Hindi paper during the board examinations," he said.

Meanwhile, two police personnel were injured on Thursday after being pelted with stones by an irate mob trying to help students appearing for the board examinations here. The incident took place at Tilak Singh Inter College in Raya where the mob turned violent after failing to help students copy, owing to heavy police deployment, the DM said. The injured policemen were admitted to a hospital, he said, adding that the mob was brought under control after additional forces were brought in.