Schools would be shut in March-April for CBSE examiners to complete evaluating answer scripts.

The board's regional office issued a notice stating academic activities for classes IX to XII would remain suspended after the board examinations are over till April 15, 2016. The dates of board examinations, however, have yet not been announced. CBSE regional officer (Bihar and Jharkhand) R.R. Meena issued the directive stating the move was made to give teachers more time to evaluate answer sheets of classes X and XII.

Meena said: "The board results got delayed last year, as the teachers were evaluating answer sheets and taking classes simultaneously. This delayed submission of evaluated copies to the CBSE headquarters. This sends a negative message to the headquarters about the regional office. For the board exam 2015-2016, I want all invigilators to submit the evaluated copies by April 15."

On December 5, a notice was sent to 100 CBSE-affiliated schools, which are assigned the task of evaluating the copies. He added: "If the results are declared on time, students get ample time to apply for an admission in schools or colleges and for the re-evaluation procedures as well."

Meena also said: "The school should avoid making any mistakes on their part regarding the details of the students who are appearing for the board exams. Previously, hundreds of students faced problem due to inaccurate data of students maintained by the schools," he said.

The most important thing that he focused on is the preservation of legal documents for 40 years which most of the schools do not adhere to. Meena said: "There are five legal documents which the schools have to maintain for 40 years, including the admission forms, admission withdrawals, board registrations, transfer certificate booklets and performance records of the students."

The students were happy with the new directive. Madhu Kumari, a Class X student of St Karen's High School said: "It is important for us to get results on time to apply for an admission in reputable schools. The admission portal remains open for just a week. The delay in the process also makes us impatient."

C.B. Singh, secretary of Patliputra CBSE Sahodaya, a group of CBSE-affiliated schools, said: "It is the first time that a regional officer has thought of such minor but important points regarding the examinations and the maintenance of data."