The state education department wants handheld metal detectors to be used at more higher secondary examination centres from next year to prevent students from entering the premises with mobile phones or other electronic communication devices.
The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education cancelled the entire HS examinations of 41 candidates this year on charges of entering the exam centres with mobile phones.
Education minister Bratya Basu gave the figures at a news conference on Thursday, the last day of the school-leaving examinations.
Asked whether the state government has plans to introduce scanning with handheld metal detectors in more venues next year, the minister said: “I will ask the council president to look into it. This is under consideration.”
The president of the HS council, Chiranjeeb Bhattacharya, was seated next to the minister.
A council official said that of the 2,341 exam venues across the state, hand-
held metal detectors had been provided to only 176, which had been identified as sensitive.
All the candidates who wrote their papers at the 176 venues were scanned with metal detectors.
This arrangement was way too small, considering that the examinations were held at 2,341 venues in Bengal. Which means most of the venues did not have any proper scanning.
The Telegraph reported on February 16, the day the HS examinations started, that the council decided that if an examinee was found with any communication device such as a phone or a smartwatch inside an examination hall or venue, his or her entire exam would be cancelled for the year and he or she would not be allowed to “appear for rest of the examination(s)”.
Still, at least 41 candidates managed to enter examination halls with smartphones.
“We have to be more vigilant next time. These candidates are entering the halls with mobile phones despite being cautioned repeatedly. In some cases, the teaching and non-teaching staff are allowing the students to enter the halls with mobile phones. The council has identified them. We may not neutralise the cases entirely next
year. But we want to reduce the numbers,” the minister said.
In this year’s Madhyamik examinations, as many as 36 candidates had been barred from writing their papers after images of question papers circulated on WhatsApp were tracked down to the QR codes on their question papers.
Council president Bhattacharya said that in HS, although some candidates had entered the halls with mobile phones, they could not circulate images of question papers.
“They were apprehended before they could make any such attempt. Next year, the council will have handheld metal detectors in many more venues,” he said.
He added that in Kolkata, which did not have any sensitive venues, a few candidates were caught with mobile phones inside the examination halls.
HS next year
The education minister announced that next year the HS examinations would start on March 3 and end on March 18.