The Tripura Board of Secondary Education (TBSE) has announced that students would be allowed to write answer script for Kokborok in Roman letters during the upcoming secondary and higher secondary examinations.
The board president, Dr. Dhananjay Ganachoudhury, said the decision was taken to provide more flexibility and convenience to the students, especially those who are not well-versed in the Bengali script.
However, the question papers will still be printed in the Bengali script, as changing those question papers at this stage would be impractical, given the time constraints.
The board has already prepared the question papers in Bengali and will distribute them to all the examination centers by February 10, he said.
The board president also urged the in-charge officers of the examination centers to ensure peace and order during the exams and to report any untoward incidents to the nearest police station.
Meantime, the Tripura Madhya Shiksha Parshad (TMSP), a students’ organization, opposed the policy and accused the board president of imposing Bengali script on the students. The TMSP vice-president, John Debbarma, filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission and a case at the NCC police station against the board president.
The board president, however, defended the policy and clarified that it is not mandatory for the students to write their answer papers in Roman letters. They can choose to write in Bengali script or any other script recognized by the board.
He said that the policy is only meant to provide an option to the students and not to impose any script on them. He also said that the question paper format cannot be changed at this point, as it would create confusion and chaos among the students and the examiners.
He said that the board’s decision is based on a balance between flexibility and practicality, keeping in mind the existing situation.
