The state higher secondary council has extended the deadline for submission of Class XI annual examination mark sheets from June 23 to June 28 after several schools said the target was unrealistic.

The schools argued that they were simultaneously occupied with online submission of Class IX exam marks by June 24, a deadline set by the state secondary education board ahead of the preparation of the Madhyamik 2021 results.

The HS council had set the June 23 deadline last week.

A statement signed by Mahua Das, president, West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, on Monday said: “You (heads of the institutions) are being informed that the last date of submission of marks foils of Class XI annual examination has been extended up to June 28”.

Over 2,000 schools are yet to submit hard copies of the mark sheets to the council, at the head office in Salt Lake or any of the council offices.

The council has also asked the schools to preserve all marks foils and answer scripts related to the Class XI annual exams held in March 2020.

The statement uploaded on the council’s website says: “Any marks foils or answer scripts may be asked for by the council for review purpose within a time period of 6 months from the date of publication of Higher Secondary results, 2021”.

The marks are sent through foils that contain large sheets provided by the council.

A council official said they want to check whether the schools are sending inflated marks.

“If we sniff any discrepancy, the answer scripts and the scores on the mark sheets will be verified,” he said.

The council had announced on Friday that it would give 40 per cent weightage to a student’s performance in the Class X board exams and 60 per cent to Class XI annual exam marks and the total would be added to the score in the 30-mark practical (for lab-based subjects) or 20-mark project (for non-lab subjects) to arrive at the final marks of an HS candidate.

“The board has warned against any tampering in the marks registers as well as in the marks submitted on the website. We will run a check and take steps,” said an official of the council.

The headmaster of a school in south Calcutta said submitting the subject-wise marks of Class IX exams within June 24 on the secondary education board’s new website https:// www.wbbsedata.com was a tough target.

“In addition to that, the council had said on Friday while announcing the evaluation methodology that Class XI examination marks would have to be submitted within June 23. We have a shortage of personnel, as many teachers and staff have tested positive for Covid and are on leave. We had to seek an extension,” he said.