Lucknow, June 13 -- Highlighting the transformation in Uttar Pradesh's education sector, chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said that over the past eight years, both the condition and direction of school and secondary education have changed remarkably in the state. He also advised students to not let anyone damage public property, urging them to report such incidents. He made the remark after felicitating top-performing students from state and national board exams with tablets and cash prizes at a ceremony held at Lok Bhavan in Lucknow. He also awarded gold medalists of the 68th National School Sports Competition 2024-25 with the Chief Minister's School Sports Award. "The CM recalled that before 2017, basic education was in decline and secondary education was marred by widespread cheating. Today, he said, students are building their future in a new Uttar Pradesh-one that has shed its 'sick state' tag to become the country's growth engine," stated a press release shared with media after the event on Thursday. He emphasised that earlier governments had introduced two major "businesses" in Uttar Pradesh-one in the name of cheating and the other in transfer-posting. "Exam centres were operated on a wholesale basis for cheating. External candidates filled out forms, and someone else appeared in their place for the exams. Simultaneously, transfer and posting became an entire industry," he stated. He shared that over 8 lakh youths have been given government jobs transparently across all sectors. P3...