Semester System in Higher Secondary Level under WBCHSE

West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education
Vidyasagar Bhavan, 9/2, Block DJ, Sector-II, Salt Lake
Kolkata – 700091

No: L/PR/176/2024 Date: 18/04/2024

Notification

This is for information to all the Heads of Institutions, teachers, teaching staff, students, guardians and other stakeholders that as per our earlier Notification vide Memo No. L/PR/133/2024 dated 06.03.2024, West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education is going to introduce Semester System for Class XI from Academic Session 2024-25 and for Class XII from Academic Session 2025-26 based upon the approval of the School Education Department, Government of West Bengal and in line with the State Education Policy.

Salient features of the Semester System are given hereunder:-

1. Course of Study

The Higher Secondary (Senior Secondary) or 10+2 Course will consist of four parts, i.e. Semester I, Semester II, Semester III and Semester IV.

a) Class XI has been redesigned as Semester I and Semester II, and Class XII has been redesigned as Semester III and Semester IV.

b) The curriculum of the Semester I, Semester II, Semester III and Semester IV shall consist of:-

(i) Two language subjects from the Language Group as mentioned in Schedule II, one subject each from First Language and Second Language.

(ii) Three compulsory elective subjects are to be chosen from any of the three sets of subjects as mentioned in Schedule II.

(iii) One optional elective subject, if desired, may be chosen from the designated set from where three compulsory elective subjects have already been chosen or from the lists of vocational subjects offered by the Council.

c) As per clause 3.6.2 of State Education Policy (2023), schools should provide guidance and scope for the students for taking challenging course work, participating in extracurricular activities, engaged in summer projects with Higher Educational Institutions.

d) As per clause 3.6.5 of State Education Policy (2023), students of Higher Secondary course should be engaged in internship programmes and projects during summer vacation related to the subjects of their choice. Necessary tie ups with Media Houses, Corporate Firms, Publishing Houses and Higher Education Institutes should be initiated and made by the Head of Institutions in this regard.

2. The Academic Session

The academic session of Semester I and Semester III will start from the month of May and will continue till the month of October as per Government holiday schedule of the respective year. Subsequently, Semester II and Semester IV will start from the month of November and will continue till the month of April as per Government holiday schedule of the respective year.

3. Admission

a) A student, who has passed the Madhyamik Pariksha or equivalent public examination, may be admitted into Semester I within mid of May every year so that the class of Semester I could commence immediately post publication of results.

b) A student, who has got admitted and registered in Semester I will be eligible for promotion to Semester II within the 30th October every year so that the Class of Semester II can be started from the 1st week of November every year.

c) A student, who has passed Semester I and Semester II of Class XI, can be admitted into Semester III within the 30th of April every year so that the Class of Semester III can be started from the 1st week of May.

d) A student, who has got admitted and enrolled in Semester III will be eligible for promotion to Semester IV within the 31st of October every year so that the Class of Semester IV can be started from the 1st week of November every year.

e) Here, the eligibility to appear for admission in the next superior Semester requires a minimum percentage of attendance in the previous Semester and clearance of all dues as fixed by the Council. Details will be given in the Admission, Examination and allied matters Regulations which will be published shortly.

4. Registration

a) No student shall be allowed to appear in any Semester unless he/she is registered with the Council in Semester I as per the notification of the Council.

b) A valid candidate, who has been admitted into Semester I of a recognized Institution, should apply for registration with the Council within the 30th of June of the year of admission and/or as per the notification of the Council through the concerned Head of the Institution through online portal along with the requisite registration fees and all other necessary fees as may be determined by the Council from time to time.

c) Students shall be permitted to register with the Council within three consecutive years from the date of publication of his/her result of the Madhyamik Pariksha or equivalent examination, including the year of publication of results.

5. Examinations of Semester I and Semester II of Class XI

a) Semester I Examination of Class XI will be conducted in September or as per the notification issued by the Council. Subsequently, Semester II Examination of Class XI will be conducted within the month of March every year and will continue on the same cycle until further notification.

b) Conducting the examination and evaluation of OMR/ Answer Scripts are to be made by the concerned Institutions.

c) Examination of Semester I will be based on Multiple Choice Questions (hereinafter referred as MCQ) and Semester II will be based on Short Answer Type Question (hereinafter referred as SAQ) and Descriptive Question (hereinafter referred as DQ).

d) The question papers of Semester I and Semester II are to be set and supplied by the concerned Institutions. Blank OMR/ blank answer scripts for Semester I and Semester II are to be provided by the concerned Institutions.

e) Institutions will take necessary measures to conduct the Practical and Project Examinations within the completion of Semester II in a consolidated manner on annual basis based upon guidelines and timelines provided by the Council. Question papers and blank answer scripts for this purpose will be provided by the Institutions.

f) The Institutions will take necessary measures for evaluation of OMR/ written answer scripts, Practical & Project Examinations and will publish the results of the students accordingly.

g) The results of Semester I and Semester II, Project and Practical have to be uploaded by the Institutions in the Council’s Portal within a specified time period as per the norms and notification issued by the Council.

h) A student will be declared passed in Class XI, if he/she obtains minimum thirty per centum marks in any of five theory papers of Semester I and Semester II independently, and also secures minimum thirty per centum marks in practical/project of the respective subjects separately. However, passing in each of the language subjects is mandatory.

i) The Grand Total will be calculated by considering the highest marks obtained in five subjects.

j) The students who will not pass in Semester I will be allowed to re-appear in the backlog subjects (supplementary subjects) during Semester II examination in the same session as per schedule of the Council (Herein this examination is named as Supplementary Examination of Class XI). Detailed guideline will be given in the Regulation on Examination, Admission and Allied matters which will be published soon.

k) The students who will not be able to pass in any of the subjects of Semester II and the backlog subject(s) (if any) of Semester I in the Supplementary Examination, should repeat the Semester I and Semester II afresh in the next academic session.

6. Enrolment

A registered and bonafide student who has passed both Semester I and Semester II including practical/project papers separately, shall only be eligible to enrol himself/ herself for both the semesters (i.e. Semester III and Semester IV) within the 30lh of June or as per notification issued by the Council.

7. Examinations of Semester III and Semester IV of Class XII (Higher Secondary Examination)

a) Semester III Examination of Class XII will be conducted within the month of September or as per notification, issued by the Council. Subsequently, Semester IV Examination of Class XII will be conducted within the month of April every year or as per the notification of the Council and will continue on the same cycle until further notification.

b) The examinations of Semester III and Semester IV will be conducted by the Council.

c) Semester III will be based on MCQ and Semester IV will be based on SAQ and DQ.

d) The question papers are to be set and supplied by the Council. OMR and blank answer scripts for this purpose will also to be provided by the Council.

e) The Council will take necessary measures for evaluation of OMR and written answer scripts under its strict supervision and will publish the results of Semester III and Semester IV.

f) The Practical Question Papers and Blank Answer Scripts will be supplied by the Council.

g) The Institutions will take necessary arrangements for conducting and evaluation of the Project and Practical Examinations in a consolidated manner on annual basis as per the timelines given by the Council.

h) The Institution will upload the Project & Practical marks of every enrolled student in the Council’s Portal within a specified time period as per norms and notification issued by the Council.

i) A student will be declared passed in Class XII, if he/she obtains minimum thirty per centum marks in any of five theory papers of Semester III and Semester IV independently and also secures minimum thirty per centum marks in practical/project of the respective subjects separately. However, passing in each of the language subjects is mandatory.

j) The students, who will not pass in Semester III, will be allowed to re-appear in the backlog subjects (supplementary subjects) during Semester IV examination in the same session as per the schedule of Council (Herein this examination is named as Supplementary Examination of Class XII). Detailed guideline will be given in the Regulation on Examination, Admission and Allied matters which will be published soon.

k) The Grand Total will be calculated by considering the highest marks obtained in any five subjects.

l) The Result of Higher Secondary Examination of the students will be declared as per the marks obtained in Class XII i.e. in Semester III, Semester IV and in practical/project. Mark Sheet and Pass Certificate will be issued accordingly.

m) Every candidate should have to pass in all the Semesters (i.e. Semester I, Semester II, Semester III and Semester IV) including practical and project within seven years from the year of registration (including the year of registration), otherwise his/her registration will be cancelled and further admission/ registration/ enrolment in any semester will not be permitted.

8. Supplementary Examinations

a) Supplementary Examination of Class XI

i) A student who will not be able to clear any of the subject(s) in Semester I, will be allowed to appear for a Supplementary Examination along with Semester II in the same academic year.

ii) After appearing this Supplementary Examination as mentioned in (i), if the student is still not be able to clear any of the subject(s) of Semester I and/or if the student is having any backlog papers in Semester II, then he/she needs to appear all the subjects of Semester I and Semester II in the next academic year like a fresh candidate. In that case he/she gets the same opportunity like a freshly admitted candidate in Class XI.

iii) This arrangement will continue till the student will be able to clear all the papers of Semester I and Semester II of Class XI, but with the condition that the student needs to pass the H.S. Examination within a maximum period of seven years from the year of registration (including the year of registration) failing which his/her registration will be cancelled.

iv) This Supplementary Examination will be conducted by the concerned Institutions,

b) Supplementary Examination of Class XII

i) A student who will not be able to clear any of the subject(s) in Semester III will be allowed to appear for a Supplementary Examination along with Semester IV in the same academic year.

ii) After appearing this Supplementary Examination as mentioned in (i), if the student is still not be able to clear any subject(s), he/she has to appear those subject(s) with Semester III in the next academic year.

iii) After appearing Semester III Examination in the next academic year as mentioned in (ii), if the student is still not be able to clear any subject(s), he/she has to appear the Supplementary Examination for those subject(s) with Semester IV in the same academic year.

iv) The cycle will continue and the students will get the opportunity to clear their backlog papers within a maximum period of seven years from the year of registration(including the year of registration) failing which his/her registration will be cancelled.

v) This Supplementary Examination will be conducted by the Council.

vi) The students who will not be able to clear any of the subject(s) of Semester IV, will have to clear their corresponding backlog paper(s) in the next academic year along with the Semester IV Examination.

vii) This will continue (as mentioned in vi) till the students will clear all the backlog papers or till the validity of registration period whichever is earlier.

9. Option of changing compulsory elective subject as compulsory optional subject etc.

(1) If a candidate fails to obtain minimum pass marks in any of the compulsory subjects for the reasons of deficiency of less than five per centum of full marks, he/she to make up the deficiency in the compulsory subject, shall be given credit by transfer of marks from the highest marks obtained by him/her in a compulsory subject.

(2) A candidate who cannot be declared passed in the examination by reason of his/her-

i) not appearing in the examination of a compulsory elective subject, or

ii) failure in obtaining the minimum pass marks in a compulsory elective subject, but has obtained the minimum pass marks in the optional elective subject, shall be declared passed by giving him/her the benefit of interchanging the compulsory elective subject as the optional elective subject and vice versa.

Provided that if a candidate does not, for any reason, intend to take the benefit of interchanging the subjects, he/she shall, through his/her Head of the Institution, intimate his/her intention as such, and surrender his/her marks sheet for necessary correction therein, to the Council within thirty days from the date of publication of results.

(3) A candidate will get-

(i) the benefit 9(1) first, if it is applicable to him/her.

(ii) if 9(1) is not applicable, then he/she may get the benefit 9(2), if is applicable to him/her.

(iii) No candidate will get both the benefit at a time.

10. Schedule of Examination

a) The schedules/ timelines of examinations for all semesters including theory, practical and project shall be prepared and notified by the Council.

b) The Council will decide the Centres and Venues for Semester III and Semester IV Examinations. However, Semester I and Semester II will be conducted at home venue i.e. at the mother/own institution.

c) The Council may, if it considers necessary, can change the centre/ venue for examination of Semester III and Semester IV with prior notice to all concerned.

11. Semester wise breakup of marks and duration of examinations

# Examinations of Vocational Subjects in each Semester will be conducted out of 30 marks and that will be converted into 15 marks dividing by 2. This marks will then be taken into account as final marks for any semester.

12. Provision for unsuccessful/ absent students of Class XI Examination, 2024

All the students who are unsuccessful/ have not appeared in Class XI examination till the academic session 2023-2024, must continue Class XI examination with newly introduced Semester System from the academic session 2024-2025.

13. Schedule II

Language Group

The choice of elective subjects must be confined to any one of the following sets of subjects:-

Vocational Subjects:

(1) IT & ITeS (ITEV) (2) Organised Retailing (ORTV) (3) Health Care (HLCV) (4) Tourism & Hospitality (THLV) (5) Construction (CNSV) (6) Beauty & Wellness (BWLV) (7) Power (POWV) (8) Automobile (ATMV) (9) Security (SEUV) (10) Electronics (ELTV) (11) Plumbing (PLBV) (12) Apparel (APLV) (13) Agriculture (AGLV) (14) Banking, Financial Service & Insurance (BSIV) (15) Food Processing (FDPV) (16) Telecom (TELV).

The students will not be allowed to opt the following subjects together:-

• Any vocational subjects, Music (MUSC) & Visual Arts (VISA).
• Agriculture (AGRI) and Agriculture (AGLV) of Vocational Subject

14. Discretionary Power of the President

Any litigation related to this notification, if arises, the Council reserves the power to give the final explanation and if necessary, change or/and modify the notification as per the Section 22 of the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education Act, 1975.

All concerned are further informed that a detailed Regulation on Examination, Admission and Allied Matters will be published soon to guide all the stake holders for smooth implementation of the Semester System. The Council will also arrange for district wise Online/ Offline Sensitization Programme for the Head of Institutions and teachers for updation and betterment of the process.

Prof. (Dr.) Chiranjib Bhattacharjee
President
W. B. Council of H. S. Education

No. LPR-176 dated 18.04.2024, Source