New Delhi, 28 May 2021 – On Thursday evening, 27th May 2021, the West Bengal government announced that the West Bengal state board exams for Classes 10 and 12 students will be conducted in July and August 2021. As per the announcement made by the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the WB Board Class 12 exams will tentatively be held in the last week of July whereas Class 10 board exams will most likely be conducted in the second week of August.
WBBSE Class 10 and 12 Board Exams 2021 – Recent Updates
While addressing the media, the West Bengal Chief Minister stated, “For months’ students have been uncertain about the exam dates of CBSE, TET, JEE, and other examinations. So, after receiving many requests from the students, we have decided to hold the secondary (Madhyamik) and higher secondary (Uccho Madhyamik) examinations during July and August…adhering to all COVID-19 safety protocols.”
She further added the following points:
- Shorter Format – The WB Madhyamik Class 10 Board Exam will be held in a shorter format. While the standard exam duration for Madhyamik and Uccho Madhyamik (Class 10 and 12) is 3 hours, the suggested duration for the current year’s exam is 1 hour and 30 minutes (90 minutes).
- Choice of Questions – As the question papers are already set, instead of reducing the number of questions in the question paper or creating new ones, the students will be given the advantage of choosing the questions. For example, if the question paper set for a 3-hour exam comprises 10 questions, students will now have to attempt any 5 from those 10 questions.
- No Need to Come to the Exam Venues – The exam will be conducted at home centres so that students do not face difficulty to reach the exam venue.
- Examinations Only for Compulsory Subjects – Madhyamik and HS will be conducted only for compulsory subjects. The number of compulsory subjects for Class 10 will be 7 whereas 15 subjects will be considered compulsory for Class 12. The compulsory subjects for Class 10 are Language 1, Language 2, Geography, History, Mathematics, Biology, and Life Science.
- Assessment of Minor Subjects – Furthermore, apart from the compulsory subjects, there are around 38 to 58 minor subjects. The marking system for those subjects will be based on the internal assessments; schools will provide marks after evaluating the student’s overall performance.
WBBSE Class 10 and 12 Board Exams 2021 – What Happened Earlier?
The announcement of the tentative exam dates comes after the Students Federation of India (SFI) and CPI(M) students’ wing requested West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu on Wednesday (26th May) to come up with some information on the West Bengal Intermediate and Higher Secondary examination.
They had urged the Education Minister to ensure that students of Classes 10 and 12 do not fall behind examinees from other state boards in the wake of the decision to postpone the secondary and higher secondary exams due to the second wave of the pandemic.
Pratikur Rahman, State President of the SFI, and Srijon Bhattacharya – State Unit Secretary of the Students Federation of India (SFI) also expressed their strong opposition to the Centre’s plan to make online learning obligatory for every student.
More Update on WBBSE
As many as 12 lakh Class 10 students, and 8.5 lakh Class 12 students will appear in the WB Board examination this year (2021). West Bengal is among a few states who have decided to not cancel the Class 10 or 12 exams.
