From imposition of BNS section 163 (prohibitory orders) and xerox shops to remain shut down within 100 metre of the examination centres, to question papers in poly pouches — the West Bengal Secondary Education Board on Wednesday announced guidelines for the higher secondary examination scheduled to be held from March 3 to March 18.

The WBCHSE, in a notification on Wednesday, stated that examinees would face severe consequences, including the cancellation of their examination and ability to sit for subsequent ones, if mobile phones, smartwatches or other communication devices are found in their possession. Teachers and teaching staff in the examination hall are also barred from carrying devices. Exceptions are only in place for the centre-in-charge, the centre secretary, the venue supervisor, and the council nominee.

Aside from calculators, if any other device is found on an examinee, it would be confiscated, the board said.

It has also brought changes in the way of handling question papers this year. According to the notification, the papers would be sent to the custodians by February 26 and no sorting would be required, as the question papers will be distributed in poly pouches containing five, 10, 20 or 30 papers. On the day of the examination, the sealed pouches would be delivered to the venue supervisors in the schools by 9 am, and around 9.40 am, the venue supervisor would hand over the sealed pouches to the invigilators.

The council stressed that these poly pouches should only be opened in front of the examinees inside the examination hall.

According to the notification, the poly pouches are to be opened at 9.55 am and the distribution of question papers and answer scripts would take place at 10 am. Furthermore, the examinees would be allowed to enter the examination centre after 9 am, and they will not be allowed to leave until 30 minutes before the end of the stipulated time.

The use of loudspeakers will also be banned near the venues.