KOLKATA: The Bengal government on Monday decided to cancel both Madhyamik and Higher Secondary (HS) — the state-run board examinations for Class X and Class XII — a day after seeking public opinion on the conduct of the exams, and two days after a six member experts’ committee submitted its report on the matter.
The formula for assessing board examinees will be announced in a week.
As many as 79% of those who sent their feedback on Monday via email were in favour of cancelling Madhyamik, while 83% said HS should not be held amid the pandemic, chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced.
“We received 34,000 emails in a short time,” she said, adding, “this is the public opinion.” After the experts’ committee submitted its report on Saturday, the state government on Sunday had sought the opinion of the public before deciding on the fate of 21 lakh candidates (8.5 lakh Madhyamik and 12.5 lakh HS).
The opinions on holding the board exams were welcome till 2pm on Monday on three email IDs provided by the government.
“There is an observation made by the apex court,” the CM added.
“Even the six-member expert committee had thought the examinations should not be conducted, since the pandemic is ongoing and several schools had to be converted to safe houses.” How the evaluation will be made without students facing any problem shall be decided by office-bearers of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education and the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, along with school education department officials.
The committee has also submitted a proposal on the methods of evaluating board students without the examination.
“The suggestions should be taken into account.
But, while formulating an evaluation method, students should not be penalized,” the CM said.
“The committee has given 70% weight to Class IX and the rest to Class X, on whatever number of classes could be held in Class X.
But many said they attended more classes in Class X, while Class IX was based on a different syllabus.
So why should Class IX be allotted more weight than Class X,” Banerjee questioned.
She requested the board and council officials, along with school education department and panel members, to keep the suggestion under consideration and think over their recommendation about evaluating Class X candidates.
“Students should not fall victim to the evaluation pattern.
There are many high achievers and meritorious students who depend on the board results to opt for higher education and find admission.
Thus, students should not face any difficulty,” Banerjee said.
She explained that since the pandemic was still on and as most other states — and the CBSE — had taken similar decisions, the state government had decided to cancel the state board examinations.
“After taking the opinion of the expert committee, the formula for assessing students will be prepared and candidates shall be informed within the next seven days,” she said, adding, “Take into account how CBSE is evaluating students, and their decisions.”