Several state board schools will have self-evaluation tests for students of Classes X and XII, who will take the Madhyamik and Higher Secondary exams next year, to assess themselves in the absence of selection tests.

Some schools have decided to hold online “practice tests” of three hours, while some will have tests of shorter duration.

A few schools, including those where students have limited access to the internet, have planned to distribute sealed question papers to students through their parents. Parents are being counselled to keep a watch on their children while they write the answers.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had recently announced that Class X and XII students would be allowed to write the Madhyamik and HS exams next year without appearing in selection tests.

It is important to have some sort of an evaluation for students even if their selection for board exams is not dependent on that, several school heads The Telegraph spoke to said.

Schools have planned to hold these practice tests in the first week of December.

“It is not a question of allowing or not allowing students… if they write a three-hour paper even at home, they won’t be scared of exams and it will build their confidence, too,” Parimal Bhattacharyya, the headmaster of Jadavpur Vidyapith, said.

The school will post questions on WhatsApp groups and students will be asked to write answers and scan the sheets and upload them. Those who cannot scan can send their answer scripts to the school.

Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Narendrapur, has decided to conduct “pre-tests” online for Class X students. “We have been conducting classes online since May and it is important for students to know where they stand,” Brahmachari Turiyachaitanya, the headmaster, said.

“The reason for evaluation is not to grade them but to tell them their weaknesses and the areas they need to work on,” Sunita Sen, the principal of the BSS School, said.

At Shyambazar AV School, parents will be asked to collect sealed sets of question papers and answer scripts will have to be returned to the school. “We are counselling parents to monitor the exams at home,” said Manoranjan Raptan, the headmaster of the school.