The state higher secondary council has said that it would protect the interests of students while evaluating the answer scripts of mathematics, following complaints that examinees struggled to answer “tough questions” within the stipulated one hour and 15 minutes.
Class XII students wrote an OMR-based multiple-choice question (MCQ) paper in mathematics in their third-semester examination last month.
The council president, Chiranjeeb Bhattacharya, said they received complaints about questions being tough from several centres.
“We want to assure the students that their interests will be protected while evaluating the answer scripts,” said Bhattacharya.
In a meeting, however, the council decided that the duration of the examination would remain unchanged.
Since the start of the first semester examination on September 8, the council has been receiving complaints about the limited time duration.
The students are studying the semesterised Plus-II system, which was introduced last year.
The headmaster of a government-aided school said students wrote the first semester examination in September last year on OMR paper on MCQs.
“Although the duration of the test was the same as this year, the schools allowed some extra time, like 15 to 20 minutes on request. Maybe students thought they would be allowed some extra time again. But since the council conducted the examination, no extra time was allowed,” the headmaster said.
Another head of the institution said, “The students did not complain about mathematics questions being tough when they had written the first semester examination in September last year.”
A council official said that they have brought changes in the question pattern in science subjects so the students can prepare themselves for the competitive exams like Bengal JEE and JEE Main.
“We have to check whether the change in the pattern made it difficult for students to write answers in the mathematics paper,” the official said.