– Mita Mukherjee

The West Bengal government on Wednesday set up an expert committee to decide whether it is possible to conduct the Class X and XII board examinations of 2021 of the state.

The panel has been asked to review the present Covid-19 situation in Bengal and submit a report to the state government within 72 hours.

A senior official of the state school education department said the committee will examine whether it would be possible to conduct the two board examinations in the present situation. 

If it is possible then what would be the mechanism of conducting the examinations without exposing the students to the infection. The panel will also suggest the process of evaluating students if the examinations are not held at all.

The six-member expert committee includes heads of the two boards, the chairperson of the West Bengal Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, doctors treating Covid-19 patients, child psychologists and NGOs working for welfare of children and teen-agers.

The two state boards including the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education that conducts the Madhyamik ( Class X) and the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education that conducts the Higher Secondary (Class XII) examinations had earlier said that the exam schedules of the X and XII board  exams would be announced today.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced on May 27 that the 2021 Higher Secondary exam would be conducted in July end and the Madhyamik would be conducted in the second week of August.

The press conference where the exam schedules were supposed to be announced was cancelled in a last minute decision today.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) cancelled the CBSE Class XII and ISC (Class XII) exams respectively on Tuesday in view of the pandemic situation.

The Bengal school education department official did not clarify whether the decision on the two state board exams was deferred because of the cancellation of the two national board examinations.

Also read: Industry experts react to cancellation of class 12 CBSE & ISC board exams