Education

CBSE Exam Dates Prompt Concerns for West Bengal State Board Students

By Poulami Roy

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced that the 2027 board examinations for classes 10 and 12 will start on 16 February. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CISCE) is expected to follow a similar schedule. In West Bengal, the dates for the Madhyamik and Higher Secondary (HS) examinations will be moved to March, after the second phase of the census drive. According to sources, the state school education department will give final approval for the HS examination schedule after 22 March, and official dates for both Madhyamik and HS exams are expected to be released next week.

The CBSE announcement has caused anxiety among state board students, especially those preparing for national entrance tests such as the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main. The second session of JEE Main is scheduled for 2 to 7 April. Aritra Dutta, an HS candidate from a state‑run school and a JEE Main aspirant, said, "I will appear for both JEE Mains sessions scheduled for Jan and April. My primary concern right now is how to manage both HS and the second phase of JEE Main simultaneously."

Other students preparing for various entrance exams share similar worries. School heads, speaking anonymously, noted that the upcoming fourth‑semester HS papers will contain descriptive 40‑mark questions, whereas competitive tests follow a different objective pattern. "I hope the government considers these factors and comes up with a solution very shortly," a headmaster said.

Saugata Basu, general secretary of the West Bengal Government School Teachers’ Association, remarked, "It is true that a huge number of state teachers and staff will be assigned to census duties compared to those in central government schools. As government employees, it is our duty to obey official orders, but we must admit that students ultimately suffer from this delay. They will not be granted any leeway while competing with students from other boards at national level entrance tests."

Animesh Haldar, a mathematics teacher and member of the Secondary Teachers and Employees Association, added, "This delay will impact several administrative timelines, including result publication. Students appearing for competitive exams will face maximum trouble. Moreover, teachers involved in evaluation will be exhausted due to back‑to‑back duties. Pressuring them to complete evaluation within a tight deadline increases the risk of manual errors."

Kinkar Adhikari of Education United Forum said the association has already sent a representation to the school education department highlighting these issues. State school education minister Dipak Barman recently assured the media that result publications would not be affected by the delay.

Taking a different view, Amit Sen Majumder, headmaster of Jodhpur Park Boys’ School, said, "I feel the extra days will provide students with additional time for preparation, allowing them to cover a syllabus of the final semester."