Kolkata: The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE) has taken up elaborate arrangements for the Higher Secondary examination beginning from March 27. Around 8,26,029 students will appear in this year's examination. The number of girl students is higher by 57,534 than the number of boys appearing for the Higher Secondary examination this year. There is an increase of the HS examinees by 53,000 compared to the previous year.
Altogether, there are around 682 examination centres and 2,085 venues among which around 150 venues have been demarcated as sensitive. There will be two special observers at each sensitive booth whose job would be to carry out surveillance over the examination process, maintain security of the question papers apart from assisting the venue supervisors. The special observers will enter the sensitive venues by 8 am on the morning of the examination. They will also monitor if anybody apart from the venue supervisors are using mobile phones. However, special observers will not be allowed to use mobile phones in the venue. If they are to contact the Council in regarding an incident, they would use the cell phones of venue supervisors or the school's landline number.
Venue supervisors are being given ID cards. Like previous years, videography will be done at all the examination centres. Admit cards of the students, their registration certificates have been dispatched to various camps.
The students can see the seat allotment chart and get to know their examination centre by visiting the Council's website. Tracking of question paper that was introduced last year will remain operational this year as well. A computer-generated barcode will be attached to the question paper which will help in tracking.
An examination security format has been introduced for the first time this year where venue supervisors would be given a paper which would be filled by them if a teacher or non-teaching staff enters the venue with mobile phone flouting the instructions. The forms would be submitted to the council's office. Invigilators will have to fill the "Question Distribution Format" to keep a record of the details of the distribution of question papers.
During the examination, central control room, regional control rooms and help desks, the district police control rooms would remain operational. The central control room numbers are — 033-23374984-987.
Mahua Das, president of WBCHSE said: "Venue supervisors have been instructed to declare a student RA (Reported Against) if he/she enters the venue with a mobile phone, indulge in copying, heckle invigilator or teacher/non-teaching staff or damage examination centre."