English will be compulsory for all students although the other papers can be answered either in Bengali or Hindi. “We are even thinking of introducing Urdu as the writing medium”, said PEDB secretary Ratan Laskar.

The unique concept has been largely accepted as the number of students appearing for the examinations has drastically increased from 20,000 in the first year (1992) to a walloping 350,000 in 2010. The examination is held in the morning before school hours and before the beginning of the new session.

Earlier, these used to be held in February but due to session changes, this year they will be held from November 22 to 26. There are around 3,000 centres in West Bengal where these examinations are held, based on the same syllabus provided by primary schools.

These examinations are considered very useful to the student. “They even help them get admission to some schools”, said PEDB vice-president Dhrubojyoti Mukherjee. He dismissed the claims that children often drop out of school out of fear of failing in these exams.

This, he said, is wrong as the “poor conditions of primary schools do not provide enough motivation to students. Besides, teachers too are very few and these examinations include as a subject English, which the schools tend to neglect.”

The examinations ensure that the students are ready for higher education by strengthening both their foundation and their command over language. “The government had quoted child psychologists to argue that such external examinations are bad for students but, on the contrary, they have been found to rekindle children’s interest in education,” said PEDB member and primary school teacher Ajit Hore.

Even guardians support the exam as they see their wards relieving quality education, with the scholarship acting as a motivator for the child and the family. They are dead against any move to calling off the examinations.