Several schools in the city and on the outskirts said very few ICSE (Class X) and ISC (Class XII) students want to appear for the first semester online exam from school.
Teachers said those opting to appear from school were doing so because of poor connectivity at home.
The parents of those choosing school think their children will get the necessary technical support on campus.
The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) in a circular to the school heads said the students could take the semester 1 online exams, to be held in November and December, from school or home.
Following the circular, some schools sent a notice or email to the parents asking them their choice.
The parents have also been asked to inform the school of the device — laptop, desktop, tablet or smartphone — that their children would write the exam on.
“Only a few students have opted to write the exam from school and that is perhaps because of connectivity issues at home,” said John Stephen, the acting principal of La Martiniere for Boys.
In La Martiniere for Boys, four of the 208 ISC students and one of the 233 ICSE students have opted to write the test from school.
In Calcutta Girls’ High School, two students each out of the 130-odd girls have opted to write the ICSE and ISC exams from school.
In National English School, Baguiati, two from the ICSE batch and one from the ISC batch have opted to write the exams from school.
Ninety per cent of the students responded till Friday evening.
In Assembly of God Church School, Park Street, seven from the ISC batch and three from the ICSE batch have opted to write the exams from school. There are around 150 students at each level.
At Sri Sri Academy, no student has opted to appear for the exams from school.
In Julien Day School Ganganagar, five ICSE and four ISC examinees want to write the exams from school.
In a school in South 24-Parganas, seven of the 113 ISC examinees and four of the 127 ICSE examinees have said they want to appear for the exams from school.
“The students who are opting to write the exams from school are doing so because of technical support on campus in case they face any difficulty writing it from home,” said Bobby Baxter, the principal of Julien Day School Ganganagar.
Parents are wary of power cuts or poor connectivity during the exams, teachers said.
Some have become used to appearing for online exams over the last 18 months.
However, in meetings that the school held, parents and students wanted to know the platform on which the exam would be conducted.
“Since the exam is just after the festive season, parents are also apprehensive of a surge in Covid cases. So, most want to appear from home,” said Mousumi Saha, principal, National English School in Baguiati.