The West Bengal Higher Secondary Council in a first will allow Class XII board examinees to check their answer scripts if they are not satisfied with their scores.
“An online interface will be available on the council’s the website from July 5 that will allow students to apply for inspection of their answer scripts. The applicants will have to fill a format,” said a senior HS Council official. The students can check their papers at council’s head office at Vidyasagar Bhavan. The procedure for revaluation remained the same, an official said.
After submitting their applications online for inspection of papers, the students will be able to keep track of the latest status. Once the scripts are available, the students will be notified and given a specific date to visit the council office. “Candidates should note that the interface for application will be kept open up to six months from the date of publication of the Higher Secondary results of a particular year. After self-inspection, the candidate can apply to the examination section for the photocopies of their answer scripts, if needed,” said the official, adding that one examinee will be allowed to check six answer scripts.
Teachers organisations appreciated the HS Council’s move. Saugata Basu, general secretary of West Bengal Government School Teachers Association, said, “At a time when the transparency of the functioning of several board examinations have been put under question, this initiative by the HS Council is indeed a welcome move. The measure has been taken to ensure a complete transparent process. It will help the students.” Basu, however, pointed out that the council had not elaborated on the next course of action if the students felt their papers had not been evaluated correctly. “Also, the council should not burden the candidates with more financial expenses for the process,” Basu said.
A council official pointed out that this measure was a modified and upgraded version of what students used to do earlier under the RTI Act. Till now, disgruntled candidates looking to check their answer scripts had to make an application to the HS Council under the RTI Act and pat Rs 10. “Now, candidates will be able to apply online directly to the council and can also keep tabs on the status of their answer scripts. This will be of great help,” the official said. This apart, while the students had to visit the HS Council office to make the application under RTI Act, they can now apply online, sitting at home, he added.
The school education department pointed out that the decision was taken mostly to avoid any uncomfortable question arising over the exam process, especially after images of the question papers were circulated on WhatsApp within an hour of multiple Madhyamik papers starting this year. “Introducing CCTVs, roving invigilators, RFIDs are all part of trying to make the exam process transparent. Though HS did not have this problem but almost on all the Madhyamik days, images of question papers were circulated on WhatsApp within an hour of the beginning of the tests. This introduction of the inspection of papers is praiseworthy,” a Bikash Bhavan official said.
Source: Times of India
