Class 10, 12 Board exams to be offline? Here's what West Bengal has to say

Madhyamik, Higher Secondary exams in Bengal are likely to be offline in 2022. Last year, the two major examinations were suspended due to the pandemic situation. But as the evaluation system created a lot of confusion, this year, the boards are trying to go for proper examination.

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Kolkata: The West Bengal Board of Secondary Examination (WBSE) and the West Bengal Council for Higher Secondary Exam (WBCHSE) have proposed conducting examinations offline in 2022. The WBSE conducts the Madhyamik exam and the WBCHSE is responsible for the Higher Secondary exam.

The CBSE and ICSE boards had earlier announced to conduct 10th and 12th examinations offline but the All-India boards have decided to conduct it in two phases.

Though the state boards are yet to announce anything officially, sources in the Education department said that the Madhyamik examination is likely to be held in March and the Higher Secondary examination in April. The boards have also proposed a one-time exam. "The All-India boards have proposed for an examination in two semesters, but here the student concentration is high and so it is impossible to conduct examinations in two semesters," an education official said.

"We need to reorganise the schools. We will also have to maintain COVID protocol strictly. A draft proposal has been given detailing all these things and it is now awaiting the consent of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee."

The Chief Minister had already announced the opening of the schools from classes 9 to 12 from November 16 and it is indicative enough that the state government is also keen to restart the normal education system in the state. Sources in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) indicated that Banerjee will go through the proposal after she returns from Goa at the end of this month.

Last year, the two state boards had suspended the two major examinations because of the pandemic situation and had gone for an evaluation system but that created a lot of confusion. So, this year, the boards are trying not to take any risk and go for proper examination.

The Board of Secondary education gave 50 per cent weightage each to the marks obtained by the students in Class 9 and the Internal formative assessment in Class 10 and the Higher Secondary council decided to segregate the theoretical marks into two parts giving 40 per cent weightage to the marks obtained in Madhyamik examination and another 60 per cent weightage to the subject marks in Class 11.

In addition to this, the students will also get the marks scored in practical exam or project work.

However, the respective boards announced that the students will have the chance to sit for the exam if they are not happy with the marks based on assesment, and in that case those marks will be considered to be final.

Nearly 20 lakh students in the state will sit for the two board examinations in 2022.