PRAYAGRAJ, Nov. 24 -- The Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UP Board) has tightened its exam-centre policy for the 2026 high school and intermediate exams, directing that students will not be allotted to any centre run by their school manager or the manager's family members, after instances of managers using relatives' schools to bypass earlier rules came to light. Until last year, the restriction applied only to multiple schools directly operated by the same manager. The new rule now includes all institutions owned or managed by the manager's relatives as well. District Inspectors of Schools (DIoSs) have been instructed to identify every such school, upload the details to the UP Board website and inform the respective regional office, said Prayagraj DIoS PN Singh. UP Board has followed a long-standing rule of not shifting students among centres overseen by the same management to prevent teachers from assisting examinees. But several managers reportedly started opening new schools in the names of family members, secured centre status for them and then exchanged examinees between these centres. Officials said this allowed them to collect large sums of money from students in exchange for promises of high scores. The Board's tightened policy is aimed at blocking such practices in the upcoming exams. However, officials noted that the term "family" has not been clearly defined in the policy, leaving some room for interpretation during centre allocation. DIoS Singh said centres will be allotted strictly according to the rules issued by the Board. The high school and intermediate exams-2026 will begin on February 18 and conclude on March 12. A total of 52,30,297 students have registered, including 27,50,945 in high school (14,38,682 boys and 13,12,263 girls) and 24,79,352 in intermediate (13,03,012 boys and 11,76,340 girls)....