West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to cancel the selection test for WB Board Exams 2021 in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. Students appearing for classes 10th, 12th next year can directly appear for the board exams.
“Many students could not go to schools due to the pandemic, hence, the education department has taken a decision that the students willing to take 2021 Madhyamik and Uccha-Madhyamik exams will not require to clear any test. They are allowed to sit for these examinations,” she told reporters after Cabinet meeting.
The board has not yet announced the exam date for West Bengal Madhyamik and Uccha-Madhyamik exams 2021. It was earlier expected that the board shall release the date sheet in the month of December and the date sheet for class 12th is likely to release soon. Once released, it can be downloaded from the official website, wbbse.org. However, as per media reports, the CM also indicated that WB Madhyamik and HS exam which is generally held in the month of March shall be postponed.
Generally, students who pass the selection test or pre-finals as conducted by the board were allowed to appear for the board examinations for class 10th and 12th. But now that this has been cancelled, it has come as a sigh of relief for many students as they can now focus on preparing for their board exams. Furthermore, the syllabus reform committee, Madhyamik board and HS Council have yet to announce their decision about curtailing the syllabi, based on which the board exams will be conducted in the year 2021.
The number of active cases in the state now stands at 33,444. Due to winter and air pollution, the experts are expecting that the number of COVID-19 cases shall spike again. Hence, reopening of educational institutes is a tough decision of the center at the moment.
Schools and colleges in the state have been closed in the state since March when the pandemic struck. Classes have been resumed online however many students have not been able to take part in them due to wanting of either smartphones or internet facility. The matter of reopening of schools is concerned West Bengal CM said a decision on reopening of schools will be taken only after mid-November.
