Council mulls single-booklet format for HS from 2020

Kolkata: The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE) is planning to introduce a change in the Higher Secondary examination pattern from next year. As per plans of the council, students will be given a single booklet in which they will have to answer the questions.

"We are planning to have questions and answers in a single booklet in the higher secondary examination to be held in 2020. The move is to ensure security and confidentiality of the questions. Students will not be allowed to take any part of the question paper outside the examination hall even after the conclusion of the examination," said Mahua Das, president of WBCHSE.

The pattern of having questions and answers in a single booklet is followed in competitive examinations in the regional and national levels. In the present format of answers in two separate booklets, the Council faces problems in tallying the two and there have been cases of loss of sheets in one or two cases, for which RTIs have been filed.

"These measures will not only prevent such cases but also equip our students more in countering questions set in competitive examinations," Das added. It may be mentioned that with the current exam pattern there is hardly any descriptive question, so the Council feels that question and answers in a single booklet is very much feasible.

The Madhyamik Examination this year had witnessed a number of question papers being circulated on WhatsApp soon after the start of the examination, following which the Council had taken measures to ensure that such things do not occur in the HS Examination.

"We are happy there has hardly been any case of adopting unfair means in the examination," Das said.

Speaking about other plans, the Council president said that new scoring subjects like Visual Arts are being introduced in the curriculum, along with subjects like Computer Science and Physical Education that have been included earlier.

"Students are also getting good placements after studying vocational subjects," she added.