# West Bengal boards may shift Madhyamik, HS exams to March due to Census 2026-11-04T08:10:14+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education has proposed postponing the 2027 Madhyamik (Class 10) examinations from February to March because teachers are needed for the Census 2027 enumeration. The Census’s house-to-house phase runs from 25 January to 28 February. Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, had asked exam authorities to avoid scheduling major papers before 18 March. The board has sent the revised schedule to the state School Education Department for approval. A similar proposal to defer the Higher Secondary (Class 12) fourth-semester exams, initially set for early March, is expected from the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education. Education Minister Dipak Burman said the department was examining the proposal. Students should continue preparing for the existing timetable until the government formally announces changes. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The shift affects roughly two lakh Madhyamik and one lakh Higher Secondary candidates. Teachers double as census enumerators in West Bengal, so the February census phase competes directly with the exam calendar. The board has not yet announced which subjects or days move, so students must follow the old timetable until the education department approves the proposal. The council is expected to file a similar deferment for Class 12 exams. Once approved, the board will need to compress evaluation, tabulation and results to avoid delaying Class 11 admissions and national-level entrance tests. The final impact depends on whether the department approves the March 2 to 16 window. ## Coverage - indianexpress.com Leads with the board's proposal and administrative reasons, neutral on government role This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Census 2027, Dipak Burman, Madhyamik, WBBSE, WBCHSE, West Bengal Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/west-bengal-boards-may-shift-madhyamik-hs-exams-to-march-due-to-census/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/west-bengal-boards-may-shift-madhyamik-hs-exams-to-march-due-to-census/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/