West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu on Friday said the government will appoint an agency for a study after the number of candidates appearing for the class 10 state board examination dropped by 36.41 per cent this year.

Speaking to reporters, Basu said the state government has taken a serious note of the sharp dip in the number of Madhyamik candidates this year, and wants to know the reasons behind it.

A total of 6,98,628 candidates will appear for this year's Madhyamik examination, which will be held from February 23 to March 4. Last year, 10,98,775 candidates appeared for the examination, conducted by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE), a drop of 36.41 per cent.

"The state government will appoint an agency for a study among the class 10 students who are not appearing for the board examinations to find the reasons," the minister said.

WBBSE president Ramanuj Ganguly said the sharp decline might be a result of the online classes held during the pandemic.

Many students might have felt that their preparation was inadequate because of online classes and so they are not appearing, he said.

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