KOLKATA: After the Higher Secondary council asked state board schools to hold offline pre-boards tests for Class XII by year-end, West Bengal Board of Secondary Education on Wednesday directed similar tests be held for for Class X between December 13 and 24.
Like the exams for Class XII students, the tests that Madhyamik candidates will take will also be of 50 marks for each paper and will be held on campuses. But individual schools can decide on the total marks on which the exam will be held. A few state-board schools in the city have already completed their offline exams for Class X.
Taki House is among the state institutes that started offline exams for classes X and XII, even before the directives came from the council and board. While the teachers have already started evaluating Class X papers, XII pre-board tests began from November 29.
St Lawrence High School started its offline tests for Class X on Wednesday and decided to bring the schedule for Class XII tests forward to December 8 after it received the council notification about the December-31 deadline. Principal Fr Francis Jimmy Keepuram said, “We had scheduled the Class XII offline test in January but after getting the council’s directive, we have decided to hold it from December 8. The exam will be completed by December 20, before Christmas.”
Jadavpur Vidyapith started tests for classes XI and XII on Wednesday. “We are holding full-length exams. The council has set the full mark for each paper at 50 and we will stick to it,” said headmaster Parimal Bhattacharyya.
Jodhpur Park Boys had postponed its offline tests for classes IX, X and XII, given their school will be taken over for KMC elections on December 19. But after receiving the exam notices, the authorities have decided to hold a meeting on Friday and decide how to conduct the offline tests for the board years within the deadlines set by the Madhyamik board and HS council. Jodhpur Park Boys headmaster Amit Sen Majumdar said, “We have a meeting of academic council on December 3, where we will take the final decision. We have already printed question papers of 80 marks each.”
While Hare School will decide the exam schedule after a consultation with teachers, Bethune School plans to take offline tests by the stipulated date of December-end. Ballygunge Siksha Sadan has completed offline tests for classes IX and X and the exams for classes XI and XII will start from December 13. “Students will appear for full-length papers because they need to practise. But we will stick to 50 marks, according to the council directive,” said Sunita Sen, principal.
The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education issued a clarification for HS pre-board exams. About subjects, like music, visual art and automobile, where the total theory marks cannot add up to 50, the council said those papers could be marked for less.
