ICSE exams start today: Schools ensure preparedness amid new norms

Around 50,000 students in Bengal will appear for the ICSE (Class X) examinations that start on Tuesday.
The first paper is English language.
The examinations will end on March 27.
On Monday, several schools were checking their preparations for the exams. Except for the art papers, all ICSE exams will start at 11am. The candidates have to be seated in the exam hall by 10.30am.
Question papers will be distributed at 10.45am and the first 15 minutes are meant only for reading the questions.
Several schools from state boards have migrated to ICSE over the past few years and one of them will send out their first batch of ICSE students this year.
"This is our first batch of ICSE. Our teachers will not be allowed anywhere near the exam hall. The invigilators will be from another school," said Sunita Sen, principal of The BSS School.
Schools are also cautioning children about the CCTV coverage of the entire examination venue as directed by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE).
"We have cautioned the students that the CCTV coverage is not just for the exam day. The entire process is being recorded and stored. So, if a complaint crops up even after a month the recording can be retrieved and checked," said Ian Myers, principal, Frank Anthony Public School.
Schools have prepared their students to answer critical thinking and application-based questions. The number of such questions is likely to go up this year.
The new ISC (Class XII) norms announced by the council will affect this batch of ICSE students.
While some schools have informed students about the changes, others said they would wait for the Class X board exam to get over.
"We want them to concentrate on the ICSE exams for now. We don't want to confuse them but will wait till they finish the exam," said Gargi Banerjee, principal, Sri Sri Academy.