The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education Examination (WBCHSE) kicked off today with more than five lakh students appearing for the board exams.
The Class XII exam this year is to be held at 2,089 centres between 3 March and 18 March. According to official sources, the number of students writing their exams this year has witnessed a dip from those who had enrolled. In 2023, more than 5.65 lakh students had appeared for the exam while this year around 5.09 lakh are writing the WBCHS examination. Also, the number of girls is said to be higher than that of the boys appearing for the exams this time.
Notably, for the time ever, the board has provided HS admit cards with the name of the examination centre printed on it. This has been done to avoid confusion among aspirants. Also, every question paper has a digitally printed serial number, which the students have to write on the top right hand side of their answer sheet. The security measure is being taken to prevent the question paper being copied. Apart from this, the board has also declared zero tolerance regarding mobiles or electronic gadgets in the examination hall. “If any examinee is caught with such prohibited item(s) in the venue/ examination hall; his/her entire examinations and enrolment will be cancelled,” said a notification issued by the board.
The WBCHSE has also instructed to make arrangements for CCTV surveillance at least at the entry gate of all examination venues and in the room of the venue supervisors (confidential rooms) during the examination period between 3 March and 18 March. The instruction, according to the board, has been given to maintain the confidentiality of question papers and sanctity of the examinations. The examination venue authorities have also been instructed to preserve the records of the CCTV footage in the safe custody of the ‘venue supervisors’ till 18 April.
Meanwhile, the state transport department is operating special bus services connecting crucial routes for the HS examinees. The special services are to be run at 7.45 am and 8.15 am in the morning and .15 pm and 145 pm in the afternoon hours from various points including Ballygunge, Dunlop, Thakurpukur and so on.