The government has prohibited teachers, examiners and candidates of all public examinations from carrying mobile phones, electronic watches and electronic pens inside the exam halls.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid came up with the directives yesterday, and said only the secretary of an exam centre would be allowed to carry mobile phone.

At a meeting with the law and order monitoring committee at the ministry, he said punitive actions would be taken if anyone is found to have these devices.

Though carrying cell phones was prohibited for students inside exam centres, this is the first time the ministry imposed the ban on carrying mobile phone by examiners.

The ministry took the move following allegations that some examiners were letting the examinees to adopt unfair means with their mobile phones.

At the meeting, the minister said a few teachers in some places were involved in helping examinees by doing unethical practices. "They have disgraced the image of the teaching community," he said.

He also warned of taking legal actions against the teachers and examiners if they are found guilty of helping examinees unethically.

However, there is no bar to use calculator inside the exam halls, said a meeting source.

The discussants at the meeting argued that some electronic watches and pens available in the market have the capacity of internal storage and built-in memory.

Anyone can misuse the technology, they observed.