West Bengal likely to introduce semester system in classes 11 and 12

The new West Bengal education policy, the draft of which was announced after the recent cabinet meeting, suggested having semester-based education at the higher secondary level

Kolkata: The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE) is planning to introduce the semester system in classes 11 and 12 from the 2024-25 academic session, officials said.

WBCHSE president Chiranjib Bhattacharya told PTI on Thursday that the council has drafted a proposal and submitted it to the government.

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The new state education policy, the draft of which was announced after the recent cabinet meeting, suggested having semester-based education at the higher secondary level besides splitting the exam into two phases.

“We have submitted a proposal to the government already. It aims at bringing the two-year exam system under the four-semester module, conducting two board exams after the third and fourth semesters and holding the third semester exam in multiple-choice question (MCQ) mode,” he said.

West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, however, has no plans to switch over to the semester syatem for classes 9 and 10, WBBSE president Ramanuj Ganguly told PTI.

“As things stand now, the existing system of conducting madhyamilk (secondary examination) will continue. We don’t have any intention to introduce the semester system till the tenth standard,” he stressed.

The draft policy, made by an “empowered committee specific to the state of West Bengal,” had accepted the recommendation which suggested retaining the existing 4+4+2+2 structure.

As per the 4+4+2 formula, a student will spend four years in foundation, another four years in upper primary (preparatory stage), two years (classes 9 and 10) in secondary.

The draft policy suggested two years at the higher secondary level to be entirely semester-based.