West Bengal Board Proposes to Shut Internet Services During 10th, 12th Exams

The West Bengal board has proposed to shut the internet service at certain places adjacent to the exam centers to prevent exam leaks for Madhyamik and Uccha Madhyamik exams. The board exams are likely to be held as per schedule in March.

Due to the Covid-19 situation, it was not possible to take secondary and higher secondary examinations last year. Prior to that, the question papers were allegedly leaked soon after the exams began and there were cases of cheating reported. The boards, however, had denied the charges.

On Tuesday, Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi held a video conference with the district governors and police superintendents of each district to prepare for the secondary and higher secondary examinations in the state. The main discussion during the meeting was about the arrangements made for the offline exams. A PowerPoint presentation was made at that meeting on behalf of the School Education Department wherein the internet services were proposed to be closed.

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Earlier too, the internet services have been shut down within 100 meters of certain exam centres during secondary examinations. The final decision will, however, be taken by the state home department. As per sources, CCTV cameras too have been installed in several examination centres of each district.

According to the school education department, for the class 12 examination, more than 11 lakh candidates are set to appear for it. The number of higher secondary candidates has, however, decreased a little compared to last time.

Further, more than 8 lakh candidates are set to give higher secondary examinations. The Higher Education Department has called for the deployment of police in every home centre.

According to the school education department, the number of examination centres for higher secondary is much higher than that for secondary exams. The district magistrate and police superintendent have also been informed about the details of how the question papers will be sent on behalf of the two boards in the virtual meeting.

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