The state higher secondary council will engage primary schoolteachers, from Classes I to V, as invigilators for the upcoming higher secondary exams to tide over the shortage of Plus II level teachers caused by “the SIR and other factors,” the council president said on Monday.

The fourth-semester HS exams will start on February 12. The exams will be held from 10am to noon.

On the same day, students who failed to clear papers in the third-semester examination held last September will appear for their supplementary papers from 1pm.

Students who failed the HS examination conducted under the old annual system in March last year and did not opt for the semester format will also write their examinations from February 12.

“Altogether 7,10,811 students will write the examinations. We need to engage around 36,000 invigilators. However, we do not have as many teachers at the Plus II level as a section of them is busy with the special intensive revision exercise (SIR),” council president Chiranjib Bhattacharjee said.

“The deficit has also resulted from the delay in the teacher recruitment exercise. We need to engage teachers from the primary level to tide us over the situation,” he said.

The council is likely to engage around 5,000 primary school teachers as invigilators. Teachers from the secondary level will also be appointed for invigilation duty.

“The district administrations have been alerted and requested to take adequate steps,” Bhattacharjee said.

Of the total examinees, 6,35,864 students will appear for the fourth-semester examinations.

The number of students writing supplementary papers stands at 59,452, while 15,495 candidates will appear for the examinations under the old system.

The HS council introduced the semesterised Plus II programme in 2024.

Under the new semester-based system, the course is divided into four semesters. The council conducts the third and fourth semesters for Class XII, while schools hold the first and second semesters for Class XI.

Students were assessed entirely through multiple-choice questions (MCQs) in the first and third semesters.

They were tested on short and descriptive questions in the second semester and will follow a similar pattern in the fourth semester.

The HS examinations will be held at 6,837 schools spread across 23 districts across the state.

The ongoing Madhaymik, which started on February 2, is being held smoothly. There were concerns over the conduct, as a majority of teachers were busy with SIR duty.

The school service commission, which held selection tests after nine years for the appointment of secondary and higher secondary teachers, has yet to complete the recruitment process.

The Supreme Court has given the commission until August 31 to complete the
process.

“We lack teachers. Fresh teachers couldn’t be appointed on time. If the existing pool of teachers is kept engaged in SIR duties during the boards, how will invigilation be carried out?” a council official said.