A school in Calcutta, whose campus will be used for the Assembly polls from Monday, has made alternative arrangements for Class X and XI students to take the Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) exams at another institution.

Several schools offering CAIE and IB (International Baccalaureate) have exams scheduled on April 29, which coincides with the second phase of polls in the state.

The schools have asked students to carry their identity cards and a copy of the timetable while commuting to the examination centre, so that they can present them if stopped.

Students of Bridge International School on Hazra Road will appear for the Cambridge IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) and AS (Advanced Subsidiary-Class XI) from Vidyanjali International School on Ram Mohan Dutta Road in Bhabanipur, which also offers the Cambridge curriculum.

Bridge International School will be used for poll-related activities from Monday for a week, a school official said.

“We have made an alternative arrangement so that students can appear for the exams. Apart from IGCSE, students will be appearing for the physics and chemistry practicals of the AS level,” said Paromita Roy, principal, Bridge International School.

Students have IGCSE and AS theory papers on April 29, and the practical exams
of Class XI are on April 28 and 30.

“Students are used to doing the practical in their familiar laboratories, but now they would have to do so in another setting,” a teacher said.

Exams are scheduled on April 29 at The Heritage School and Vidyanjali International School as well. But their school has not been taken for the polls.

The Heritage School principal Seema Sapru said: “We have written to all the police stations in the area that there is an exam, and students should be allowed based on the timetable and admit cards that they have.”

There are about 17 students writing the IB exam at The Heritage School.

The school has asked only skeletal staff to be present for the conduct of the exam. Teachers, too, would be carrying their school identity cards.

“We have also informed the IBO (International Baccalaureate Organisation) that there is an election in the city on Wednesday,” said Sapru.

Several schools affiliated to the international curriculum said this is a situation impacting just one state and not the entire country or schools globally.

“We have spoken to the parents to drop their children off at school, and we will also keep vehicles in the school in case students need them while returning. We have informed the local police station, which is Bhabanipur police station, and the police headquarters in Lalbazar that students will be coming to school to appear for the exam,” said Saswati Dutta, principal, Vidyanjali International School.

Many private English medium schools have either switched to online classes next week or declared off because their buses have been requisitioned for the election next week.

Some schools said they would desist from calling students to school this week to avoid any kind of traffic disruption or disturbance that children could possibly face.