Kolkata: The CBSE’s declaration of exam dates, which the CISCE is likely to follow, has prompted state board students and teachers to anticipate challenges, particularly in preparing for competitive examinations scheduled in April and May.The CBSE announced that the 2027 board exams for classes 10 and 12 will begin on Feb 16, while in West Bengal dates for Madhyamik and Higher Secondary (HS) will be pushed to March, which is due to the second phase of the census drive.According to sources, the school education department will give its final approval for the HS examination schedule to commence after March 22, and official dates for both Madhyamik and HS exams are expected to be announced next week. The prior declaration of the CBSE schedule has left state board examinees stressed, especially those preparing for the entrance tests like JEE-Main. The second session of JEE Mains is scheduled to take place from April 2 to April 7.Aritra Dutta, an HS candidate from a reputed state-run school and an aspirant for JEE-Mains, said, “I will appear for both JEE Mains sessions scheduled for Jan and April. My primary concern right now is how to manage both HS and the second phase of JEE Main simultaneously.” Several other students preparing for several other entrance tests share similar anxieties.School heads, speaking on condition of anonymity, highlighted that the upcoming fourth-semester HS papers consist of descriptive 40-mark questions, whereas competitive tests follow an entirely different objective pattern. “I hope the government considers these factors and comes up with a solution very shortly,” a headmaster noted.Saugata Basu, general secretary of West Bengal Govt School Teachers’ Association, said, “It is true that a huge number of state teachers and staff will be assigned to census duties compared to those in central government schools. As government employees, it is our duty to obey official orders, but we must admit that students ultimately suffer from this delay. They will not be granted any leeway while competing with students from other boards at national level entrance tests.”Animesh Haldar, a mathematics teacher and member of Secondary Teachers and Employees Association, added, “This delay will impact several administrative timelines, including result publication. Students appearing for competitive exams will face maximum trouble. Moreover, teachers involved in evaluation will be exhausted due to back-to-back duties. Pressuring them to complete evaluation within a tight deadline increases the risk of manual errors.”Kinkar Adhikari from Education United Forum said that the association has already sent a representation to the school education department mentioning these issues. However, state school education minister Dipak Barman recently assured the media in response to a question that result publications would not be impacted by the delay.Taking a different view, Amit Sen Majumder, headmaster of Jodhpur Park Boys’ School, said, “I feel the extra days will provide students with additional time for preparation, allowing them to cover a syllabus of the final semester.”
