The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE) has released a notification today instructing all the schools to hold a 50 marks test examinations by December 31, 2021. As per the notification, every school under WBCHSE will now have to hold the class 12 test examination for the theoretical subjects by the end of this year. The schools are at their liberty to formulate the examination timing and schedule.
Moreover, the notification further directs the schools to keep the results and subject-wise marks in their custody. If required, the Council will ask for the tabulated result in due course of time. The full marks (theory) for the subjects are given in the table below.
| Name of the Subject | Subject Code | Full Marks (Theory only) |
| Music | MUSC | 45 |
| Visual Arts | VISA | 45 |
| Health and Physical Education | PHED | 40 |
| Automobile | ATMV | 30 |
| Construction | CNSV | 30 |
| Electronics | ELTV | 30 |
| Health Care | HLCV | 30 |
| IT and ITES | ITEV | 30 |
| Organised Retailing | ORTV | 30 |
| Plumbing | PLBV | 30 |
| Security | SEUV | 30 |
| Tourism and Hospitality | THLV | 30 |
Subjects that are not mentioned in the list will have the full marks of 50 and 80 or 70 as applicable. This decision to hold the examinations by the end of December, 2021 came after the rising concerns over the new variant of COVID-19, Omicron. Due to this, the Council has backed down from the 2022 higher secondary examination. Chiranjib Bhattacharjee, secretary of WBCHSE said in a statement on Tuesday that all the concerned schools have to hold the 50 marks test examination by December 31, 2021. It is up to the discretion of the schools to finalize the examination schedule and time.
Bhattacharjee had earlier stated that it is completely the schools’ decision to hold the test examinations. In fact, the Council never gave any instructions regarding the test. However, he said that the COVID-19 fear over the new variant has started all over the world. In case any restriction is imposed, then it has to be kept in mind. Now, it must be noted that if there is any doubt regarding the higher secondary examination next year, then the marks of the test exam can be decisive to formulate the result.
The last written higher secondary examination was conducted in 2020 and there has been no practice of written examination so far. This direction to hold the test examination for 50 marks will help in keeping up with the practice of written examinations.
