“The Central Election Commission has asked for the list of examinations scheduled in the state and I have already forwarded the list,” said Debasis Sen, Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal. The authorities of the education department are also asking the students to be patient.

“They have asked us for the details of the madhaymik and higher secondary examinations, which we have provided. Usually, the elections don’t clash with the examination schedule,” said School Education Minister Partha De. The minister also gave instances of the 2004 parliamentary elections, which was held in mid-April and May and the examination calendar was not disturbed. The higher secondary examination for classes XI and XII — comprising about 10 lakh students — is scheduled from March 16 to April 16.

The West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination is scheduled for April 19. The JEE board authorities said unless dates of the elections are officially announced, no question of a re-schedule of the exam dates arises.

As far as university examinations are concerned, Part III honours theoretical examinations of BA, B Com and BSc are scheduled from April 20 and the general examination is scheduled from May 5. Other than this, the IIT JEE examination and All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) are scheduled on April 12 and April 26, respectively.