The heads of a number of government-aided schools said they wanted to conduct on-campus tests for the higher secondary students so they could assess their level of preparedness ahead of writing the board exams in April next year.
They said since these students would be writing the board exams after a gap of two years, they needed to get familiar with the offline examinations once more.
These students had last written an offline board exam when they appeared in Madhyamik in February 2020.
The higher secondary council said on Monday that it would be for the schools to decide whether they wanted to hold a test to screen students for the school-leaving exams.
The students who passed HS this year did not write the exams, which had been scrapped because of a renewed surge in Covid cases.
“We want to hold the test in early December. These students since being admitted to Class XI have attended classes over digital platforms only, as a precaution against Covid. We have to assess their level of preparations before they write the HS exams, scheduled from April 7,” said Parimal Bhattacharya, headmaster of Jadavpur Vidyapith.
A teacher of the school said they wanted to hold the test at the earliest so they had adequate time to address the shortcomings of students.
According to him, since the state government has yet to reopen the schools for the junior section (classes III to VIII), it won’t be a problem for the institutions to hold the exams on the campus by maintaining the physical distancing norm.
Papia Singha Mahapatra, headmistress of Sakhawat Memorial Girls High School, said the students had to be familiarised with the offline exams afresh.
In May, the council had cancelled the annual examinations of Class XI because of the pandemic and the heads of all institutions had been requested to promote all students to Class XII.
“These students have to be made conversant with the offline exams through the test. Besides, students can be motivated to take their final exams more sincerely if they appear for the test. Once they start approaching the board exams seriously, that will reflect in their results,” said Mahapatra.
She said the school wanted to hold the exams in the first fortnight of February, before the commencement of the practical examinations on 15th.
