KOLKATA: More than 50,000 of the 90,000 students appearing for High Madrasah and Alim (Class X exams) and Fazil (Class XII exams) this year are girls. At least 15% of the candidates are from non-minority communities. The Board of Madrasah Education in the state has witnessed nearly 20% rise in the number of candidates for the tests, which like other board exams, are being held after two years.
The offline exams, which are being held following Covid-19 protocols, demanded an increase in the number of centres. Accordingly, the board arranged for nearly 230 centres this time, compared to 170 earlier. “The centres accommodated only 50% of their capacity to esnsure social distancing. As the number of candidates has increased to 90,000, we had to add exam centres. We also made provisions for sick rooms and isolation rooms,” said Sk Abu Taher Kamruddin, president of West Bengal Board of Madrasah Education. Since the board allows writing answers in Bengali, Urdu and English, nearly 74 sets of question papers had to be prepared
As a large number of youngsters from poor families study under this board, the challenge has been even greater for teachers. “The biggest challenge was to check the dropout rate when schools were shut. Our teachers had to counsel students and parents so that they continued studying, despite the hardship,” Kamruddin said.
“Also, many students could not buy mobiles or access internet. It is difficult for them to attend online classes. We had to innovate methods to teach them,” he added.
