West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBSCHE) and West Bengal Board of secondary education (WBBSE) are yet to take a firm decision on Class 10 and 12 board exams for the 2020-21 academic year. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, various central and state education boards have cancelled or postponed the board exams to a later date. However, there has been no postponement news from the West Bengal authorities. Amid the postponement speculations, students have also requested authorities cancel the exams on account of the rising coronavirus cases.
West Bengal Madhyamik 2021 exams are scheduled to begin from June 01 to 10, 2021. While the class 10 board exams are scheduled in June, they may get cancelled or postponed depending on the prevailing COVID-19 situation. However, a concrete decision shall be taken by the state government after reviewing the situation. Till then, students can download the current exam routine from the official website wbbse.wb.gov.in.
WBSCHE is scheduled to conduct the Class 12 board exams from June 15, 2021, to July 02, 2021. These exams shall be organised from 12:00 pm to 3:15 pm rather than the previously decided timings which were from 10:00 am to 1:15 pm. Furthermore, Class 12 students have to appear for their exams in their respective schools rather than board allotted centres. This change has been introduced this year in light of the second wave of COVID-19.
Last week, the higher education department of West Bengal issued a statement that the class 12 board exams shall be conducted in the students’ respective schools. This shall be unlike how every year, students would appear for exams at other schools to give their exams.
Ever since CBSE announced their decision regarding the Class 10 and 12 board exams, schools in various states including West Bengal have urged the respective state governments to take similar steps. Various other states like Karnataka, Kerala, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, and Nagaland have also decided to conduct their board exams as per schedule. However, other states have mostly cancelled the Class 10 board exams. Results for these students shall be based on internal assessments and exams conducted during the academic year. Class 12 boards exams in such states have been postponed to a later date.
Mahua Das, the president of the educational council also issued a statement regarding the changes introduced in the board exams. According to Das, exams shall be organised in the second half of the day as per the scheduled dates. Furthermore, final exams for Class 11 students have been suspended for the current academic year. Other than board exams, West Bengal authorities have also introduced changes in terms of summer vacation for students. This year, the state government had announced that summer vacations will begin in schools from April 20, 2021, onwards.
