Yesterday, the Calcutta High Court issued a directive instructing the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) to make a decision regarding a plea requesting the modification in the schedule for the 10th-grade examination, as announced by the board.

Justice Biswajit Basu's bench further instructed the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) to provide information on their decision by Thursday, which is when the court will revisit the matter.

The West Bengal board's class 10 examinations, scheduled for February, underwent a change in timing with a two-hour advancement, yet no specific reason was provided for this modification. Consequently, the exams are now slated to commence at 9.45 a.m., deviating from the previous time of 11.45 a.m.

A teacher has approached the court to challenge a January 18 notification from the board, which rescheduled the start time of the examination from 11.45 am to 9.45 a.m.

The teacher contends that this change will cause inconvenience to lakhs of students participating in the examinations across various centers in the state.

The petitioner argued that the scheduled commencement of the examination on February 2 would adversely impact the examinees due to the advanced timing. Additionally, the petitioner highlighted that a decision on a representation made on January 19 to the board's president, urging the cancellation of the schedule change, is still pending.

In response, the court questioned the rationale behind the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education's decision to shift the examination start time from the long-standing practice of 11.45 a.m. to the new time of 9.45 a.m.

The state's counsel argued that the class 10 final examinations of various other boards commence at 10 am, justifying the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education's decision to align with this timing. The counsel further mentioned that instructions have been issued to all district magistrates to coordinate special arrangements for transportation and other facilities for the Madhyamik (class 10 board exam) examinees.

The board clarified that the initial 15 minutes of the examination would be dedicated to reading the questions, and students would be allowed to begin writing their answers from 10 am onwards.

Emphasizing the primary concern for the convenience of students, Justice Basu noted that he is personally aware of students coming from remote areas who need to cover significant distances to reach their examination centers. It was highlighted that the examinations are conducted at schools different from the institutions where the examinees are enrolled.