Kolkata: The second part of the higher secondary exams (fourth semester) are likely to be postponed until after Dol Yatra (March 22), sources in the Bengal HS council said. The school-leaving exams were originally scheduled to start in Feb.The state secondary education board has already proposed a deferment of Madhyamik exams as a large number of schoolteachers will be involved in the second phase of Census, which will be held in Jan and Feb.School education minister Dipak Barman on Tuesday hinted that Madhyamik and HS dates would be pushed back.The dates of the two exams will be announced once the school education department approves the revised schedules.If the govt approves the secondary education board’s proposal, Madhyamik will start on March 2 and continue till March 16. The original schedule was from Feb 2 to 12.“Since Madhyamik will start late, the HS exams, too, will be deferred by at least a few days. Madhyamik is likely to end by mid-March, after which a few days are required for logistical preparations for HS,” an official said.The dates of the two exams are being revised following a request from Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India to avoid scheduling any major test before March 1.Teachers at state-run schools said a similar situation arose during this year’s Madhyamik as many school employees were deployed for SIR work. Board officials made special arrangements by assigning invigilators from neighbouring schools to the ones facing a staff shortage.Swapan Mandal, general secretary of West Bengal Teachers and Employees Association, said, “From SIR and election duty to Census, teachers spent most of the past year away from classrooms. Now, Madhyamik and HS dates are being deferred for Census. Teachers are being held accountable for declining academic standards. The govt is even saying that annual increments for teachers will depend on students’ performance. One cannot expect schoolteachers to focus solely on education if they are frequently tasked with non-teaching work.”Animesh Haldar, of Secondary Teachers and Employees Association, said, “We are opposing this decision because it can deeply impact students. The govt should not defer these two major exams for Census.”
