Teachers on SIR job: Some schools bring forward, some delay exams
Times of India | 25 November 2025
Kolkata: Battling an acute teacher shortage with most teachers engaged in Special Intensive Revision (SIR) job, schools are either advancing their examination schedule or deferring it to manage crisis of examination invigilators. Several schools started final exams on Monday with a reduced staff strength to meet the West Board of Secondary Education's guideline to complete the third summative exam by Dec 10.
A school in the Bhawanipore area started its third summative examination on Monday. Eleven teachers from the school were assigned BLO duties out of a total teacher strength of 33. The headmaster of the school said, "The board instructed us to start exams no earlier than Dec 1 and complete them by Dec 10. It would be difficult for us to complete all the exams within a 10-day window. If all the classes have exams on the same day, we won't be able to assign an invigilator for each classroom. We may face consequences, but we have no other option but to follow this routine for conducting exams smoothly."
Another school in Howrah, where out of six teachers, three were assigned BLO duties, including the teacher-in-charge, is facing similar challenges. Susmita Dey, a teacher at the school, said, "It's difficult to run the school smoothly when even the school head is absent for a month. Some of the exams were conducted, and the rest will be conducted from Dec 1 following the board's instructions. We are the soft target where authorities, in any form, are putting pressure on us."
Some schools decided to start the third summative exam this week but had to push them to Dec 1. Narayan Das Bangur Multipurpose School's headmaster, Sanjay Barua, stated they wanted to start the exam on Nov 28 but had to change the routine following the board's order. "It would have been easier for us if we could start exam on Nov 28 because I sent some teachers from the secondary to the primary section to conduct exam, as most of the teachers were assigned BLO duty. I am more concerned about evaluation if teachers do not return by Dec 10."
Kalidas Halder, headmaster of Metropolitan Bowbazar, said, "Only three teachers are running the entire school as most are on BLO duty. I am concerned over assigning invigilators."