Some government-aided schools are asking for “caution money” from Madhyamik examinees.

Reason — the money will be used to compensate for any damage to furniture if they vandalise other institutions while writing their examinations in 2026.

A school in Murshidabad district, whose students broke the fans and benches of another school on the last day of Madhyamik 2025, has charged each of the 300 students ₹150 as “caution money”. The candidates vandalised the school to protest “strict invigilation”.

“The school whose property was damaged by our students had sought ₹1.54 lakh reimbursement. The secondary education board has also said that henceforth, the schools where the offending students belong have to take the entire responsibility for such offences,” said Moniriul Islam, the headmaster of New Farakka High School.

“Therefore, we have decided to charge the caution money in consultation with guardians,” he said.

He admitted that strict invigilation was one of the reasons behind students getting agitated, and this was responsible for the vandalism.

The headmaster of a school in Malda said they will counsel the Class X students on the day of the Madhyamik admit card distribution so they do not indulge in any acts of vandalism.

“Although students of our institution did not vandalise any property, we are still exercising caution because the board has asked the schools to be strict. In case of any aberration, we will charge caution money to pay for the reimbursement,” said Mostafa Kamal, the headmaster of Sukia High School in Malda.

Madhyamik will start on February 2, 2026.

The Telegraph reported on February 22 that students who appeared for Madhyamik this year at Balurghat High School allegedly vandalised school property after the last exam on February 21.

Nikhil Sarkar, the headmaster of the school, had said that he complained to the state education department about the incident.

A secondary education board official said that, as they had brought all examination centres under CCTV surveillance, it should not be difficult for the schools to identify the offending students.

Starting next year, the board has empowered the schools to use hand-held metal detectors to prevent examinees from entering their venue with any other electronic device “We have asked the schools to deal with instances of vandalism strictly. Or else such cases will grow unchecked,” said a board official.