Students who appeared for the higher secondary examinations on Thursday said they did not get adequate class days to prepare.

Many said that as the exam was brought forward by a month, the number of class days was slashed.

The council, which usually holds exams in March, advanced the schedule due to the upcoming Assembly polls.

Parents alleged that many teachers, deployed as booth-level officers (BLOs) for the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) exercise, were away from schools, leaving the syllabus incomplete.

The council president said bringing the examination schedule forward and teachers getting appointed as BLOs were “beyond our control”.

Chiranjib Bhattacharjee said Day I went off smoothly.

The ongoing SIR looms large on this year’s HS exam, forcing the council to engage teachers from primary schools as invigilators.

At an examination centre in Salt Lake, some of the guardians said the delayed arrival of textbooks was responsible for the syllabus remaining incomplete.

The council president denied the allegation. “The books had been delivered on time,” he said.

Over 6.35 lakh students wrote their exams in 6,837 schools across 23 districts.

The council president said they had to cancel the examination of a student because he entered the centre in East Burdwan district with a mobile phone.

“Hand-held metal detectors were deployed in each examination centre, yet the candidate managed to enter with a mobile,” he said.