The Bengal government has accepted proposals from the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education and the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education that next year’s Madhyamik and Class XII board exams be deferred to June.

Usually, Madhyamik (Class X) is held in February and the school-leaving exams are scheduled for March.

“We received proposals from the board and the council about holding the exams in June. The government has approved the proposals and suggested that the schedule be fixed accordingly. If there is a change in situation, they will see to it,” education minister Partha Chatterjee said, while inaugurating a college in Behala.

An official of the secondary education board said it had been proposed to the state government that Madhyamik be held from June 1 to 10. “The dates have been suggested assuming that the pandemic will continue over the next few months and the Assembly elections will be held in April or May,” the official said.

The HS council has proposed that the exams be held in the second half of June.

“The final dates will be announced by the board and the council in a day or two,” said a department official.

The students who will write the board exams next year have not attended any in-person class since the third week of March because of Covid.

An official in the school education department said they were working on a plan to reopen schools in mid-January for plus-II science students to attend practical classes.