Kolkata: In a rare but bold step to prevent question paper leak and cheating by students during the Madhyamik (secondary) examination in West Bengal, the state panel of secondary education Monday announced that internet services would remain suspended for two hours in 42 blocks of the state during examination hours.
Internet services will stand suspended betwe-en 12 pm and 2 pm, said West Bengal Board of Secondary Education president Prof Kalyan-moy Ganguli in the city. He added that the step would be in force in those areas where question papers got leaked through WhatsApp last year barely minutes before the Madhyamik exam started.
The possibility of chea-ting by students using hidden devices has also been taken into account while identifying the 42 blocks across the state, said sources. This is the first time such a decision has been taken by the panel.
The exam will get unde-rway from Tuesday at 2,839 centres. The total number of candidates th-is year is 1,015,888, which is, however, short of 33,-000 from the last year’s figure. It also includes 576,009 female candidates which account for 56.70 per cent.
The state government had ordered the administration to suspend Inter-net services in Malda, Nadia, East Burdwan, Murshidabad, North Dimapur and North 24 Parganas during the Higher Secondary Exam-ination last year.
