Madhyamik extra time
CALCUTTA : Madhyamik examinees may soon be granted an additional 15 minutes to read the questions. The system has already been introduced by the ICSE and CBSE authorities and the state council of Higher Secondary education.

“We are considering introducing the system at the earliest, preferably from Madhyamik 2008,” said Ujjwal Basu, the president of the state board of secondary education.

A meeting will soon be convened to finalise the decision.

In the current system, a Madhyamik examinee has to go through the questions within the three hours allotted for writing the papers.

Basu, however, argued that Madhyamik questions are set in a way that a student should finish answering them within two-and-a-half hours. Which means, an examinee has 30 minutes to read the questions and revise the answers.

“But we still feel an extra 15 minutes, only for reading the questions, will help the students,” he added.
The state HS council will introduce the system from next year.

“Considering that examinees are under stress while writing the tests, various examination boards have decided to grant them 15 minutes to study the questions,” said Debashis Sarkar, the secretary of the HS council.

The National Council for Educational Research and Training in 2005 had recommended that the duration of school examinations be extended to three-and-a-half or four hours.