WBBSE Class 10 exams 2022 begins today in Bengal amid internet shutdown in some areas to stop paper leak

The WBBSE Class 10 board exams under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education are scheduled to begin from Monday (March 7). Just a day ahead of the exams, the Bengal government has decided to temporarily ban internet services in some areas for the duration of West Bengal Madhyamik exams.

The state government had reportedly decided to suspend internet services on the days of class 10 state board examination in some areas of the state to stop cheating, an official said.

The move was necessitated in the wake of reports of purported leak of question papers via social media platforms from some exam centres in several districts including Malda and Murshidabad within an hour of commencement of exams in 2019 and 2020, said an official of West Bengal Board of Secondary Education.

The WBBSE conducts the examination which was not held last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Though the order did not specifically mention 'Madhyamik' examination, the area-specific clamp on the transmission of texts, images and videos will be in force from 11 am to 3:15 pm on March 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 – the time and dates of the class 10 board exam.

The notification did not name the areas where the curb will be in force. The official said the places will be decided as per requirement. However, phone calls and SMS services will not be curbed anywhere. According to a source, internet services were suspended on exam days earlier also but it was not announced.

WBBSE President Kalyanmoy Ganguly said, "The board has no role in this issue. It is purely an administrative decision taken by the state secretariat." Ganguly, however, said no question paper leak had taken place in 2019 and 2020 Madhyamik examinations as the "leaked" papers did not tally with the original ones.