The question papers in this year’s higher secondary examinations will be distributed only after the chief invigilator of a test hall is convinced that no examinee has a phone on him or her, the council that conducts the school-leaving exams said on Wednesday.

HS 2020 starts on Thursday and will continue till March 27. Around 7.9 lakh students will write the papers.

No examinee can be frisked but the chief invigilators are at liberty to scan candidates with a metal detector to ensure no one is carrying a phone to the test venue.

“This year we are introducing a new mechanism. Each exam hall will have three invigilators and one of them will be the chief invigilator. The chief invigilator will distribute the question papers only after he or she is convinced that no examinee is carrying a phone. If required, the chief invigilators can use a metal detector to be sure that no examinee is with a phone. The examinees cannot be frisked,” Mahua Das, the president of the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, said.

If any examinee is found with a phone, the device will be seized and the student will have the day’s paper seized, said an official of the council.

“If anyone is caught transmitting images of question papers through cellphones from test venues, he or she will have his or her registration cancelled and will never be allowed to write the HS,” the official said.

The council had last year introduced the system of cancelling the registration of students found circulating images of question papers through phones. Till last year, the candidates whose registration was cancelled would be barred from writing the remaining papers but they could apply for re-registration the following year.

“This year the punishment has been made stricter. Such students will never be allowed to appear in the HS exams,” the official said. Those found receiving answers through phones will suffer the same fate.

In Madhyamik 2020, images of the Bengali language question paper was allegedly found circulating through WhatsApp 15 minutes after the test began on February 19.

Council president Das said 250 test venues had been identified as “sensitive”. The council will appoint a “special nominee” for each of the venues.

“The special nominees will remain stationed at the main gate of the schools and will help the venue superviser to check candidates. If required, the nominee can use a mobile detector to ensure no one has a phone on him or her,” Das said.

An official of the council said a school would be barred from admitting students to the HS section if found it had helped an examinee enter the premises with a mobile phone or mass copying, assault on invigilators or ransacking was reported from the campus.

The council has opened control rooms to deal with exam-related complaints. The numbers are: 033 23374984, 033 23374985, 033 23374986, 033 2337 4987 and 033 23370792. The examinees can contact the officer-on-special-duty on 9433094021.

The council’s deputy secretary of examinations can be contacted on 9851905529.

The annual exams for XI students will also start on Thursday.

Things to know:-

⚫Each day’s test to start at 10am. The examinees must reach the venue half an hour early

⚫Examination centres: 734

⚫Venues: 2,145

⚫Exams end on: March 27