The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) ended the class 10 Madhyamik board examinations 2020 on Thursday. The last exam for WB Madhyamik was Optional Elective subjects. This year, the West Bengal board introduced many measures to curb the cheating menace. The Kolkata Police also issued WhatsApp numbers for students to complain against loud music during the board exam preparation. However, the board saw quite a stir this year. Despite the suspension of mobile internet in various districts, question papers of various subjects were reportedly leaked, causing tension during the West Bengal Madhyamik board exam 2020. Here are the highlights of WB Madhyamik Pariksha.

  • The WB board exam for class 10 began on February 18, 2020. Teachers were restricted to use mobile phones inside the examination hall.

  • Only four appointed persons from WBBSE officer-in-charge, centre secretary, venue supervisor and additional venue supervisor were allowed to carry any electronic gadget at the examination venue.

  • The West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBSCB) banned the use of loudspeaker to curb noise pollution. The Kolkata Police issued WhatsApp numbers for students so that they could complain in case of any loud music causing a disturbance while they are studying.

  • Even after introducing so many measures, the West Bengal board failed to curb paper leakage. Since the start of the Madhyamik board exam 2020, at least three instances of the paper leak were reported.

  • Life Science question paper was leaked on WhatsApp, barely within an hour of the start of the examination on February 26. According to media reports, the paper leak happened in the Farakka community block area of West Bengal’s Murshidabad district.

  • Reports also suggest that class 10 English question paper was leaked in the video-sharing app, TikTok. A student from Malda was arrested after the paper went viral. The alleged paper leak happened from Baidyanthpur High School in Ratua police station area in Malda District.

  • A purported image of the Madhyamik Bengali question paper was shared on WhatsApp soon after the first language exam began.

  • Aside from paper leak, two students were caught while allegedly trying to click question papers of Mathematics in West Bengal’s North Dinajpur district.

WBBSE, however, denied the reports of Life Science and Bengal question papers leak. Despite many measures by the board, the alleged question papers leak raises the question of board exam security in the state. It even suggests the involvement of someone from the exam machinery in the leakage instances, as internet notably was banned in across 40 blocks of the state. Amid the cheating and paper leak menace, the Madhyamik board exam 2020 finally ended today, February 27. The WBBSE will next conduct the class 12 board, which will start from March 12, 2020.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 27, 2020 07:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).