HS: 2 caught with mobiles, enrolment cancelled

Kolkata: Two Semester IV candidates were caught with mobile phones during the HS History examination on Saturday and have been barred from appearing in the remaining papers. In another incident, a special category candidate under the old annual syllabus missed the History examination after turning up on the wrong date.

Council president Chiranjib Bhattacharya said that a candidate of Dhangdhingguri Kachua High School was found carrying a mobile phone at Manindra Nath High School in Coochbehar. Another candidate of Sushila Jagneswar Public High School was detected with a handset at Gushkara Balika Vidyalaya in East Burdwan. Their enrolments have been cancelled.

On the other hand, a candidate of Uttarpara Union Girls High School turned up for the History examination on Saturday, not realising that under the old annual system the paper had already been conducted on February 19. The seat was allotted at Uttarpara Girls High School.

The mismatch stemmed from differences between the old annual routine and the new semester schedule.

Sougata Basu, general secretary of the West Bengal Government School Teachers’ Association, said that while there had been some overlap in routine between the two systems initially, the schedules later diverged. Special category candidates under the old syllabus appear only for selected subjects, which can create confusion. He said the routine should have been the same for all examinations to avoid such confusion.

Sources said the candidate had been contacted by the examination centre on February 19, but could not be reached as the candidate’s mobile phone had no active recharge.