KOLKATA: For the first time since the pandemic broke out, state board schools are set to conduct an offline exam.
The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education on Tuesday issued a notice, asking all its schools to conduct a 50-mark test for every theoretical paper for Class XII students by December 31 this year. Schools can decide on their schedule.These Class XII candidates will appear for their Higher Secondary board exams from April 2 to April 20 next year.
Sources said, West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, which conducts Madhyamik, the Class X board exams, would issue a notice to conduct offline tests but th timeframe was yet to be decided. None of the boards could hold Class X or XII exams in 2021.
The state council notification makes an on-campus test for Class XII compulsory though some schools have been holding offline assessments for classes X and XII. Schools have been instructed to preserve the results and subject-wise marks that the XII students will obtain in the physical test. Chiranjib Bhattacharjee, president of the higher secondary education council, said, “Students haven’t been to schools for nearly for two years. So, they need to take in-person tests before appearing for offline board exams. Secondly, we want to be prepared for any kind of possible adverse situation during on-campus tests.”
But not everyone is happy with the notification. Soudipta Das, secretary of Collegium of AHMs, said, “This notice has been issued rather late. Many schools have already printed 70-80-mark question papers, now what will they do?” Animesh Haldar, member of STEA, said, “Very short time has been given by the council. January would have been the best time to conduct the selection test so that a large part of the syllabus could be covered.”
After schools reopened on November 16 and classes IX to XII started attending classes on campus, many institutes had planned to hold offline exams in January so that students could go back to their pre-Covid practice of writing offline exams. Now that the notice fo Class XII has been issued, schools will bring the test dates forward. Some schools, such as Taki House, already started their offline exams from Monday, fearing mid-December would clash with civic elections.
