Kolkata, Nov. 4 -- The Bengal government is considering rescheduling the Madhyamik and Higher Secondary examinations in view of Census-related duties, with a decision expected next week, School Education minister Dipak Barman said on Wednesday.

The Census exercise is scheduled to continue until February 28. With Madhyamik examinations scheduled in February and Higher Secondary examinations due to begin in the first week of March, the department is examining the possibility of revising both schedules.

"We will have to postpone the Madhyamik examination. Since the Higher Secondary examination follows Madhyamik, its schedule will also have to be revised," Barman said, adding that no final decision had been taken.

Acknowledging the impact of teachers' administrative duties on academic activities, the minister said the government had requested the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary to ensure that teachers were deployed as sparingly as possible for Census work.

On recruitment, the minister said the government intended to conduct teacher recruitment every year and would begin the next drive after completing the ongoing process in accordance with the Supreme Court's directions. On the OBC reservation issue, he indicated that primary recruitment would follow the 7 per cent reservation provision.

Barman also announced a review of the Higher Secondary semester system by the newly appointed president of the state Council. He clarified that no decision had been taken to scrap it.

"If the review finds that it is not benefiting students but causing them harm, it should be withdrawn," he said.

The minister further said that a structured ICT curriculum, with textbooks for classes V to VIII, was being introduced. The syllabus will cover coding, Python, robotics and artificial intelligence. Textbooks for Sanskrit, Arabic and Hindi, taught as third languages in classes VII and VIII, are also being prepared.

He said revised history textbooks would include references to the formation of Bengal and Syama Prasad Mukherjee, while certain portions relating to Singur were being reviewed. A decision on introducing the pass-fail system in Class V is yet to be taken.

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