The state secondary education board has given a December 13 to 24 window for Madhyamik rehearsal exams but several schools in Kolkata said their buildings would not be available during the period because of the civic polls.
Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections are scheduled for December 19.
Some schools are starting the exams ahead of the schedule fixed by the board to deal with the situation.
At Alipore Multipurpose Government Girls’ High School, the exams will start on December 7. The school will remain closed from December 9 to 12 and there are possibilities that the building may not be available from December 16 to 21 because of the elections, said an official of the school.
“Following uncertainty over availability of the building, we have decided to hold the tests on December 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 22 and 23,” said headmistress Shampa Nayek.
The school building could be used for the counting of votes, scheduled for December 21.
A portion of the school building has been taken over by the state election commission since October 25. The remaining portion, where classes are being held since the resumption of in-person sessions for students of Classes IX to XII, is also going to be used for the civic polls, said a teacher.
“The school buildings will operate as booths. So we had to start early,” she said.
Sanskrit Collegiate School is starting the test on December 10 because the College Street institution has been requisitioned from December 16 to 20, said headmaster Debabrata Mukherjee.
“The school has been requisitioned for the purpose of training. Our teachers will go elsewhere to perform poll duties. Booths will be set up at the school. We will get back the building on December 21. So the remaining exams will be held on December 22 and 23,” said Mukherjee.
Supriya Panja, headmaster of The Park Institution in north Kolkata, said they would start the exams on December 13. Some of the papers could be held after December 24.
“Our teachers will be assigned election duty. Booths are going to be set up in our school. Election-related training could be held at the school. Provisions have to be made to tackle any kind of hindrances,” said Panja.
Holding the Madhyamik selection test is a must to identify the deficiencies among the students and plug the gaps by holding remedial classes before they write Madhyamik in April, said a board official.
He said the schools could not be asked to start conducting the tests as soon as the campuses reopened for in-person classes on November 16.
“Both the schools and students needed the time to settle down. Besides, the dates for the polls were announced last week,” said the official.
Saugata Basu, the general secretary of the Government School Teachers’ Association, said writing the tests was crucial because Madhyamik examinees had not written any exams since appearing for the Class VIII annual exams in December 2019 under the no-detention system.