The first day of Madhyamik on Monday went smoothly despite concerns over a majority of teachers on SIR duty.

The state secondary education board cancelled the entire exam of a girl student as she allegedly entered her exam centre in Bankura with a mobile phone.

According to reports, the student was allegedly apprehended with a mobile phone two and a half hours after the start of the exam at 11am.

“Although we did not see any activity on her phone, as entering the hall with a mobile phone is disallowed, her entire examination has been cancelled,” said a board official.

In Birbhum, two students tore a part of the answer script and tried to leave the examination room.

“Maybe they did so for cheating purposes. Their day’s examination has been cancelled,” said a board official.

In West Midnapore, a fake Madhyamik examinee was attempting to enter a centre by producing a forged admit card.

“The student was detained in Class IX and was not eligible to write the boards. He faked an admit card and tried to enter the centre,” a board official said.

The official said in North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Malda, schools arranged hand-held metal detectors on their own to stop examinees from entering the examination centres with mobile phones and other banned electronic devices such as calculators and smartwatches.

Since last year, the state higher secondary council has been supplying all schools with hand-held metal detectors to maintain vigilance during the higher secondary examination. However, the secondary board has yet to start the practice.

The ongoing hearings, as part of the special intensive revision (SIR), did not pose any problem in conducting the exam, said a board official.

The board, on January 27, reached out to district magistrates, warning that the examination process could face risks if teachers, who are part of the Election Commission’s SIR exercise, are not available.

“The necessary arrangements were made,” said the board official.

Board complaint

Subhasish Bhattacharjee, the security officer of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, lodged a complaint with Bidhannagar police on Sunday about a YouTube channel that has been distributing videos of documents that appear to be similar to the original Madhyamik question papers.

These alleged documents also contain a QR code to enhance their perceived authenticity.

Bhattacharjee said that the “manipulated question papers” circulating online may mislead students.

He has also reported that a video featuring an examination centre was uploaded without the Board’s consent. The complaint additionally mentions the operation of
fake social media accounts under the name of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education.