WBBSE instructs examiners to state reason for deduction of marks

Kolkata: The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) has instructed all examiners who will evaluate answer scripts of Madhyamik examination to mention in short the reason for deduction of marks in a particular answer to a question of an examinee.

Board president Kalyanmoy Ganguly held a meeting with the examiners soon after the end of the Madhyamik examination on February 27 and instructed them to follow such instructions.

"The examinees, if they are dissatisfied with their marks after results are published file an RTI. When they are shown the answer scripts often they seek an explanation on why marks have been deducted in his/ her answer to a particular question. So I have directed the examiners to explain which particular point was missing in the answer that resulted in his/ her securing fewer marks in that question," said Kalyanmoy Ganguly, president of WBBSE.

Explaining the matter, a senior Board official said suppose a candidate is allotted 3 out of 5 marks in a particular question. The examinee will have to state which particular point was missing in the answer for which he/ she got fewer marks.

"We are hopeful that this move will bring more transparency in the evaluation of the answer scripts," the official said.

There has been more than one instance when anomalies have been found in evaluation by the examiners.

The merit list of the Madhyamik examination changed after the results of the review and scrutiny came to the fore in August 2019.

The merit list of the examination that was announced by the WBBSE on May 21 had featured 51 candidates in ranks up to ten.

However, the new merit list of the Madhyamik examination had 64 candidates with ranks up to 11 instead of 10. Marks of 912 students out of 34,171 who had applied for scrutiny saw changes in marks.

"We have instructed the examiners to check and recheck answer scripts and also be extra cautious during tabulation of marks," the official maintained.