Kolkata – The West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) announced on Friday that a semester system will be implemented in primary schools across the state starting from the next academic year. This significant change will see students evaluated twice a year instead of once.

WBBPE President Goutam Paul addressed the media, outlining the details of the new system. The “credit-based semester system” will encompass classes from first to fifth standard and will be fully in effect by 2026, although the new syllabus will be introduced in 2025. The School Education Department has already approved the transition.

The academic year will be divided into two semesters: January to June and July to December. Semester one will consist of 40 marks, determined by 20 marks for attendance and conduct and 20 marks for internal subject assessments. Semester two will hold a 60-mark written examination, centrally set by the WBBPE. This differs from the previous system where schools individually set the question papers for a single, 100-mark annual exam.

While the WBBPE will set the second semester question papers, teachers at each school will evaluate the answer sheets. The total class hours per year will be 376 for the first and second standards, and 460 for the third, fourth, and fifth standards. The credit score of the students will be based on these class hours with the highest ceiling being fixed at 13.5 for the first and second standards, and 16.5 for the third, fourth, and fifth standards.

The new system aims to familiarize students with the semester system prevalent in higher education levels, according to Paul. He believes this will better prepare them for the transition.