Madhyamik 2023 started on Thursday with about 400,000 fewer candidates than last year.
Education minister Bratya Basu attributed the drop in numbers to the age bar the school education department had implemented under the Right to Education (RTE) Act in 2013, leading to fewer enrolments in Class I.
This year 6,98,628 candidates are writing the Class X board exams conducted by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, 4 lakh less than the number of Madhyamik examinees last year.
The minister said only 6.5 lakh students could enrol in Class I in the 2013-14 academic year in accordance with the age stipulation mentioned in the RTE act. The central law says that students of age 6 or 6-plus, but less than 7, can enrol in Class I.
“Those who were admitted in Class I in 2013 are writing Madhyamik this year. Before 2013, no age bar was followed. Even five-year-olds would be admitted in Class I. The age-related bar that was followed in 2013 led to a fall in enrolment. There is no other reason (for the sharp drop in the number of examinees),” Basu said after a programme in the city.
Conversations with board officials and teachers across schools suggested there could be other factors as well.
This year’s Madhyamik examinees could not attend in-person classes when they were in Class IX because of the pandemic-induced closure of campuses.
Secondary education board president Ramanuj Ganguly had said on February 9 that lack of preparations because of disruptions caused by the pandemic might have dissuaded some students from writing the exams.
Last year, Madhyamik was held on a truncated syllabus as the examinees missed in-person classes for two years because of Covid. The state government allowed reopening of schools for in-person classes in February 2022 following a sharp fall in Covid cases.
A board official said registered students in Class Xtotalled 9 lakh-plus in the 2022- 23 academic year, but fewer than 7 lakh ultimately registered for writing Madhyamik.
“Many students from underprivileged families dropped out because of Covid and started doing odd jobs to support their families. Thatis one reason for the drop in numbers,” said Swapan Mandal, assistant general secretary of the Bengal Teachers’ and Employees Association.
Minister Basu, however, ruled out Covid as a reason for the drastic fall in the number of Madhyamik examinees.
He said the number of examinees would touch 10 lakh next year because education department’s records show that as many candidates had enrolled in Class I, in compliance with the RTE act, in the 2014-15 academic year.
The fall in the number of Madhyamik examinees has triggered concerns even in the state administration.
This newspaper reported on February 12 that the Bengal government was set to start a teacher rationalisation policy to ensure no state-aided school suffers from a poor student-teacher ratio. Officials said the move was aimed attackling other reasons that might have led to the drop in numbers.
Education department sources said the pupil-teacher ratio in many schools in rural areas worsened after the state government introduced a transfer policy.