‘Schools prepared for OMR- based semester examinations’
Kolkata: Schools across the city are prepared to conduct their first-semester examinations for Class XI using Optical Mark Recognition (OMR).
This marks the inaugural assessment under the newly implemented semester system in Higher Secondary Level.
Following the routine published by the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE), the Semester-I exams will commence on September 13. Each subject, except Visual Arts, Music, and Vocational Subjects, will have an examination duration of 1 hour and 15 minutes. These specialised subjects will have a 45-minute examination. All exams will start at 3 pm.
As per the regulations, schools are responsible for conducting the examinations and evaluating the OMR or answer scripts. The first-semester exam will be based on Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ), and schools must provide blank OMR sheets to
their students.
Supriyo Panja, Head Master of Park Institution, emphasized the importance of familiarising students with the OMR format.
“This will help our students get used to the format before the Class XII Semester-III exam,” he said. To ensure students are well-prepared, they were informed about the OMR system and the necessary steps for answering questions. Sarbani Sen, Headmistress of Santoshpur Rishi Aurobindo Balika Vidyapith, explained, “The council will conduct Class XII semester exams using OMR, and if we don’t use it in the first semester, our students might be at a disadvantage.” At Sanskrit Collegiate School, students have undergone training sessions to familiarize themselves with the new OMR system.
The OMRs from the first-semester examination will not be machine-evaluated, teachers will assess them manually. Chiranjib Bhattacharya, President of WBCHSE, recommended using OMR sheets for the exams, believing this will provide students with
valuable experience.
Addressing concerns about the exam schedule, Bhattacharya clarified that schools can change the examination date if they wish, but this flexibility is only available for the current year. No separate notification will be issued by the council.
