Madhyamik security in place, special device to track papers

Kolkata: The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) is taking elaborate security measures to ensure that Madhyamik examination in the state beginning on Monday is conducted smoothly.

"The packet containing the question papers of the examination will have a specially deviced seal and sticker and if any teacher or invigilator opens it before the scheduled time, an alert will be sounded through the central server to the top Board officials. The seal of the question paper cannot be opened before 11.40 am and then at 11.45 am, the question papers will be distributed among the examinees," a senior Board official said. Examinations will start at 12 noon sharp and will end at 3 pm.

Stringent measures come in the wake of alleged leakage of question paper of a particular subject during last year's Madhyamik examination. "For the first time this year, apart from the usual languages, question papers will also be provided in Alchiki which will be immensely beneficial for around 832 Santhal students appearing in the examination," president of WBBSE Kalyanmoy Ganguly said.

Students will not be allowed to enter the examination venue with cellphones or other electronic gadgets and if anybody is caught, he/she will not be allowed to sit for that particular paper. Invigilators will also have to deposit their cell phones with the headmaster of their respective institutions. It should be kept under lock and key and handed over only after the examination.

"The Board will initiate an enquiry against an offending invigilator and action will be taken if he is found guilty of violating this rule," a senior Board official mentioned.

The examination, beginning from Monday, will see a total of 11,02921 candidates appearing for the examination which will end on March 21. The number of candidates who had appeared last year was 1071846. The number of girls appearing for the examination this year is 6,21266, much higher than the boys — 4,81555. The number of girls is 1,39811 more than the boys. Last year 1,19000 more girls had appeared for the examination in comparison to the boys. The number of examination centres in the state is 2,819.

"The rise in the number of girls is a clear indication that the various social schemes initiated by the state government have proved to be a major encouragement, bringing down the number of drop-outs to a large extent," the Board president said.

Some venues where there were reports of trouble during the last few years have been identified. "We will have more surveillance in the form of CCTV and other security measures for these centres," he said.

It should be noted that this is for the first time in the 67-year-history of Madhyamik that not even a single candidate from correctional homes in the state is appearing for the same.