West Bengal Board Proposes To Conduct Class 12 Exam In Two Parts – News18

The West Bengal Higher Secondary Education Council (WBCHSE) has submitted a proposal to the School Education Department suggesting that the Higher Secondary Examination (Class 12) should be divided into two parts instead of one. If the School Education Department approves this proposal, it indicates that a significant transformation is on the horizon for higher secondary education in the state.

According to the proposal, the Higher Secondary Examination is set to undergo a significant change starting in 2025. The examination will be divided into two parts, one in November 2025 and the other in March 2026. This means that the final examination will consist of two segments and the final marks will be calculated by averaging the scores from these two tests.

The first exam will comprise only OMR sheets, requiring multiple-choice question answers, while the second exam will feature short questions. It’s worth noting that despite the dual examination system, practical examinations and project work will remain unchanged, conducted only once. This detailed proposal has been forwarded by the West Bengal State’s Higher Secondary Education Council.

The idea of aligning the state board exams with the CBSE and ICSE exams has been a recurring topic of discussion. The goal is to ensure that students from state boards are not at a disadvantage compared to their counterparts in these national boards. Administrative considerations for this began as early as May 2022. The West Bengal state’s education policy has introduced various structural changes in education, and it remains to be seen how these changes will ultimately benefit the students in the state.

The recently unveiled state education policy, which was announced following a cabinet meeting last month, includes several key proposals. One of these proposals is the introduction of a semester-based system at the upper secondary level. Additionally, the policy suggests dividing the examination into two phases, reflecting a significant shift in the education system.

The proposal that has already been submitted to the government has a clear objective: to transition the current two-year exam system into a four-semester model. This plan includes conducting two board exams after the completion of the third and fourth semesters. Notably, the third-semester exam is intended to be administered in a multiple-choice question (MCQ) format.