Madhyamik teachers will not be allowed to carry cellphones into the examination venue, a circular issued by the state secondary board has said.

The teachers will also not be allowed to deposit their smart phones in the headmaster’s office after switching them off as they did till last year’s Madhyamik examinations, the instructions stated.

Till 2019, teachers and other staff could take their cellphones to the examination venue but were not allowed to carry the device inside the examination hall. They had to deposit the cellphones in the office of the head of the institution after switching them off.

This year’s Madhyamik examinations will start on February 18.

The board has also asked the schools to ensure that all teachers and staff members remain present at the institution on all the examination days irrespective of whether they have invigilation duty or not.

No teacher or staff member will be permitted to leave

the premises till the tests are over this year, according to the instructions sent to the schools by the state secondary board.

“Teachers and non-teaching staff will not be permitted to bring cellphones or wear smart watches during the examinations. Till last year, if any teacher or invigilator or any member of the non-teaching staff carried the device, it had to be deposited with the headmaster. They could collect the cellphone after the test. Even this will not be allowed this time,” said Kalyanmoy Ganguly, the president of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education.

“Every teacher, invigilator or non-teaching employee will have to be present in the schools during the examinations. They won’t be allowed to leave the premises till the exams are over,” he added.

The rule will also apply to teachers and staff members of schools that are not examination venues.

The board has decided to be more vigilant after Madhyamik question papers were found circulating in the social media while the examinations were in progress over the past few years, a board official said.

Examinees are already barred from entering the examination venue with cell phones or smart watches.