Kolkata, Aug. 30 -- Around 7.2 lakh students are set to appear for the Higher Secondary Semester III examinations from September 21 to October 7, with the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education introducing stricter security measures to prevent malpractice.

CCTV cameras will be installed at the entrance of every examination venue and in the Venue Supervisor's Confidential Room. Police personnel will be deployed at the centres, and candidates will be frisked with metal detectors before entering the examination halls.

Mobile phones, smartwatches, Bluetooth earphones, calculators, cameras, scanners, pen drives and other electronic devices have been prohibited. Candidates found carrying such gadgets during the examination will face cancellation of their examination and enrolment and will be barred from appearing in the remaining papers.

The examination will begin at 11 am. Candidates must report by 10 am and take their seats 15 minutes before the start. Sealed question-paper packets will be opened inside the hall at 10.55 am in the presence of candidates.

Candidates must correctly enter their registration number, roll number, subject code, question series code, subject and signature in the designated spaces. Only black or blue ballpoint pens can be used.

The council has also prescribed a strict chain of custody for question papers, with sealed packets to be transported under police escort and opened only inside examination halls.

Each examination room must have at least two invigilators, with one invigilator for every 20 candidates. A maximum of two candidates can be seated on a bench.

Action may be taken against candidates for possessing prohibited material, impersonation, assisting another candidate, taking question papers or OMR sheets outside the hall, damaging examination property or writing prohibited content on OMR sheets.

Candidates will not ordinarily be allowed to leave the hall before the examination ends or use the washroom during examination hours, except in cases of extreme urgency.

District administrations have also been asked to ensure transport and contingency arrangements in view of the possibility of heavy rain, flooding, landslides and cyclones during the examination period.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.