Students from the rural areas appearing for their English paper on Friday, were in a fix when asked about the important places of tourist interest in Kolkata. Question number nine of the English paper asked the examinees to write a letter guiding his or her friend on a tour of the city.

Students, guardians, and teachers’ organisations across the state argue that this question was Kolkata-centric and the paper setters had not thought of the lakhs of students appearing in the examination from remote areas.

Over 8,50,000 students are appearing in the Madhyamik examination, of whom not even one lakh are from Kolkata.

The board officials, however, insisted that the students should have been mature enough to know about the capital of their state. Others argued that there are many first-generation learners and students from rural Bengal who might have never visited the city and therefore would be unable to answer this compulsory question carrying 10 marks in the written examination.

“How will a student from Chandeswar in East Midnapore, Jhargram in West Midnapore and Sunderbans attempt this question?” said Ashok Maity, general secretary of the West Bengal Headmasters’ Association.

The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, meanwhile, had to call various police stations across the state to ensure that the police posting outside the centres were made on time.

On the third day of the examination, the board officials had to call Dum Dum police station to inform them that a team should be deployed at the Kishore Bharati Vidyalay before the examination starts.