Calcutta: The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations on Tuesday announced two sets of dates for its affiliated schools to hold annual examinations for classes IX and XI.

The first timetable is meant for schools in the plains while the other one is for ICSE institutions in the Darjeeling hills.

A circular issued by the council to the heads of more than 2,100 affiliated schools states that promotion tests for classes IX and XIwill have to be conducted in February. In schools located in the hills, examinations are to be held in November.

The Class XI examination in ICSE schools everywhere except the hills will start on February 1 and continue till February 22. The Class IX test will be held between February 11 and 25.

In the Darjeeling hills, the Class XI test is scheduled to start on November 12 and continue till December 6. The Class IX examination is from November 12 to 28.

"Schools in the hills are specifically required to follow the November 2018 timetables for classes IX & XI, while the schools in the plains are required to follow the February 2019 timetables for classes IX & XI. Schools are requested to strictly adhere to the schedules as mentioned above," the circular states.

Till the 2017-18 academic session, individual schools were free to conduct the annual examinations at their convenience.

Metro had previously reported on the council's decision to prepare question papers in the core subjects for classes IX and XI from 2018-19. Affiliated institutions will have to use these question papers to internally evaluate their students.

The decision is meant to ensure that schools teach only the syllabus prescribed for a particular class.

A section of school principals said the examination schedule fixed by the council was at least a couple of weeks early compared to previous years. "Our Class XI annual examination usually starts in the middle of February and continues till the first week of March. The Class IX examination starts in end-February most of the time and continues till mid-March," the principal of a school in south Calcutta said.

According to him, some schools might face difficulty in completing the syllabus after losing a fortnight of classroom time.