The district secondary education department in Malda will conduct a district achievement survey (DAS) on November 8 to assess the learning levels of students in two classes — VI and IX — across secondary schools and madarsas of the district.
According to sources in the department, the DAS will be conducted across 161 school venues, where around 20,000 students will take part in a 90-minute exam.
The decision was taken by the district inspector of schools (secondary education) after Malda’s performance was found below the national average in both the national achievement survey (NAS) and the subsequent state achievement survey (SAS) conducted in 2024.
The initiative has received appreciation from senior state education officials.
“The decision to hold the DAS in Malda has been encouraged by Subhra Chakraborty, secretary of the state school education department and state project director of the Samagra Shiksha Mission,” said Banibrata Das, the district inspector of schools (secondary education).
The examination, worth 100 marks, will start from 1pm and end at 2.30pm.
“Students will be provided with OMR sheets and question papers. Their learning levels or achievements will be assessed in the subjects of English, mathematics, general science and social studies (history and geography). All questions will be objective-type and answers are to be marked on the OMR sheets,” said an official.
As of now, Malda has 570 secondary schools and madarsas which cater to around 6.78 lakh students.
Sources said the NAS was conducted by the Centre, the first of its kind in 2024, covering nearly 23 lakh students across the country.
That same year, the Bengal government held SAS across the state.
“Teachers from other schools will invigilate the exam halls, while sub-inspectors and assistant inspectors of schools will monitor the overall process,” said Das.
The OMR answer sheets will be evaluated through a mobile app named Evalbee, and the results are expected to be published within a week of the exam, sources said.
“The question papers will be centrally prepared by teachers in the district and distributed under strict confidentiality to maintain the integrity of the process," an education official said. “Since Malda’s performance in both NAS and SAS was below the national average, this district-level survey will help identify learning gaps and familiarise students with the OMR system," he added.