Kolkata, Nov 1 (IANS): After a gap of a year, the West Bengal Madhyamik and Higher Secondary Boards have announced the exam schedule. The two board exams were cancelled in 2020 because of the pandemic. Recently the state government announced opening of schools from class IX to class XII from November 16.

According to the schedule, Madhyamik exams will be held from March 7 onwards and will be completed on March 16, while Higher Secondary exams will commence from April 2 and will end on April 20. The exams will start at 10 a.m. and will continue till 1.15 p.m.

This year the higher secondary examination will be held at the home centre. In other words, the candidates will be able to take exams in their own school. The Practical Examination of Higher Secondary will start from February 15 to March 4. The class XI examination will also start from April 2.

Earlier the boards had proposed for offline exams next year and had sent a proposal to the chief minister for approval. The boards had announced that the schedule will be released only after the consent of the Chief Minister. IANS had earlier reported, quoting education department sources, that the Madhyamik examination is likely to be held in March and the Higher Secondary examination in April. The boards have also proposed a one-time exam.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has already announced the opening of schools from class IX to class XII from November 16 and it is indicative enough that the state government is also keen to restart the normal education system in the state. Sources in the CMO (Chief Minister's Office) indicated that the chief minister will go through the proposal after she comes back from Goa at the end of this month and then she will give the final instructions.

Last year both the boards had suspended the two major examinations because of the pandemic and had gone for an evaluation system but that created a lot of confusion. So, this year the boards are trying not to take any risk and go for proper examination.