The state government has revised the schedule of the higher secondary and the state joint entrance exams because of the bypolls on April 12, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday.
“The higher secondary examinations will be held from April 2 to 27. Earlier, it was scheduled to end on April 26. The joint entrance exams that were scheduled for April 23 will be held on April 30,” Mamata said at Nabanna.
According to the schedule announced on Thursday, the HS examinees after writing their first language, second language and vocational subject theory papers on April 2, 4 and 5, will write their next papers on April 16.
The window had to be created to accommodate the poll process.
The change in the HS dates necessitated a change in the JEE date, too, an education department official said.
The dates of the HS exams were tweaked twice — first because the schedule clashed with that of the JEE Main and again because of the bypolls to the Asansol parliamentary and Ballygunge Assembly constituencies.
The chief minister apologised to students for the inconvenience. “The election commission should have checked the dates of the examinations before finalising the poll dates…” she said.
The chief minister said an election entailed deployment of the paramilitary forces who would take shelter in schools and setting up polling booths in schools. “Once the polls are over, we will have Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14. It will be followed by the Bengali New Year on April 15. So, the students will write their exams again on April 16,” she said.
The chief minister appealed to political parties to campaign for the byelections in as a manner that the HS examinees are not inconvenienced.
While choosing the counting venues, the administration must keep in mind that HS candidates will write their exams on April 16, Mamata said.
