A section of higher secondary examinees of Bolpur Girls’ High School on Wednesday agitated on the school campus for over three hours demanding that exams —scheduled from December 13 — be delayed by a week.

The protesting students said they needed more time, explaining that the school had reopened for less than a month and that there was “a possibility” that this examination could be considered a substitute to board examinations if the pandemic worsens.

“The new strain of Covid-19 has become a threat and if the situation turns worse, then the result of this exam may be used to evaluate us for our final examination. We demand at least a week’s time for preparation and special suggestions from the school,” said an agitating examinee from the humanities stream.

Bolpur Girls’ High school is one of the oldest schools in Bolpur. Around 225 students from science and humanities stream will sit for higher secondary examination this year.

School authorities said they had met the guardians twice already and had informed them about the exam date earlier with no objections recorded.

“We are also concerned about the results of the students and have assured them that we will provide suggestions for each subject. But it is the direction from the council that we have to finish the examinations within time,” said Bhaswati Lala Nag, teacher-in-charge of the school.

The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education has set a December 24 date whereas the Higher Secondary council has put in a deadline to finish the same within December 31.

Government schools teaching Classes IX, X, XI and XII were reopened on November 16 across the state. Sources said in the selection tests, full marks for each subject would be 50 for higher secondary examinees and 90 for madhyamik.

A senior teacher of the school said students who agitated on Wednesday had given a written demand to authorities where they claimed that they needed precise question papers and referred to local schools that are reportedly providing such.

“It is impossible for us to provide an exact question paper. We have told all the teachers to provide a good suggestion for the students but it is not ethical to hand over a question paper before the exams,” said the teacher.

Also, headmasters of other schools in the town said that they were also receiving several letters from guardians asking for more time for exams.

Demonstration

Over a hundred final-year students studying in various distance post-graduate courses under Burdwan University on Wednesday demonstrated for over five hours at the administrative office of the varsity accusing the authorities of delaying examination and providing mark sheets.

The students closed the main gate of the administrative block in Rajbati of Burdwan and said they were facing hurdles to get admission in B.Ed courses due to delay by the varsity.

“Our final-year examination had to be completed before September but the varsity did not notify us about the exams even today. On the other hand, B.Ed colleges had given us a deadline of December 14 to submit the final year marksheet. We met the pro-vice chancellor who assured us of complying with our demands. A notification has been published already that our examinations will be held in December and the results will be published in January. The VC will contact the government to increase the deadline of B.Ed colleges,” said an agitating student.