Several private schools in the city will require more teachers for invigilation and on-campus duty during the board exams, the heads of these institutions said.
The board exams will extend into the winter vacations and some schools have asked teachers not to leave Kolkata before the exams end.
Both ICSE/ISC and CBSE schools are making plans to spread students out in more than one exam hall. In some CBSE schools, the exams will be conducted in classrooms.
For ICSE and ISC, the ratio of invigilators to candidates is 1:30. For CBSE (X and XII), the schools are planning 12 students in one room. Before the pandemic, there would be 25 students in each room.
The schools will require additional teachers or staff to maintain Covid distancing protocol on campus so students do not crowd on their way to exam halls or rooms.
Some schools said they would tweak their class timings or engage teachers of extra-curricular activities and non-teaching staff to meet the additional requirement.
“Pre-Covid, we would conduct the exams in one hall but now, we will use at least four halls. So, definitely our requirement of invigilators will go up especially on days when all students appear for a paper,” said John Stephen, acting principal, La Martiniere for Boys.
The school will deploy “helper teachers” from pre-primary classes to ensure students follow protocols on their way to and from the exam halls.
Schools like Loreto House, Loreto Convent Entally, Calcutta Girls’ High School, Sri Sri Academy, Mahadevi Birla World Academy and Indus Valley World School also said they would need more teachers.
Some schools like La Martiniere for Boys, Loreto Convent Entally and Calcutta Girls’ have told teachers not to make travel plans before board exams end.
“We have had to tell teachers not to make any travel plans before the board exams end. There are senior teachers who had plans to go to meet their children in other cities or countries but we have had to request them to make changes as students come first,” said Jessica Gomes Surana, principal, Loreto Convent Entally.
The government has given the go-ahead to schools to reopen for Classes IX to XII from November 16 but several schools will only bring back students of Classes X and XII initially. Online classes will continue for the rest, which requires schools to make changes to the timetable.
“We will require double the number of invigilators and much more manpower this time. In December, we will have to tweak the class timings for the rest of the school because teachers will be on exam duty,” said Anjana Saha, principal, Mahadevi Birla World Academy, a CBSE school.
In Sri Sri Academy, a list is being drawn up for teachers’ on-campus duties because the school will use different gates for board examinees to enter.
Teachers or staff will monitor the movement of students, a school official said.
In ICSE and ISC schools, teachers will have to report to other schools for invigilation.