Kolkata: The West Bengal class 12 board examinations began on Thursday with over 7.10 lakh candidates appearing in three categories across the state.

The examinations, conducted by the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE), will continue till February 27.

Of 7,10,811 candidates, 6,35,864 are appearing for the fourth semester examinations, 59,452 are writing the third semester supplementary tests, while 15,495 have opted for the old syllabus system.

In all, 3,95,079 girls are appearing for the examinations this year, 79,347 more than boys, across the three categories.

While the fourth-semester exams are being held between 10 am and noon, the third-semester supplementary takes place between 1 pm and 2:15 pm.

Candidates under the old syllabus system are writing their papers from 10 am to 1.15 pm.

For the first time, around 7,000 invigilators have been sourced from primary, upper primary and secondary schools, as many teachers in higher secondary schools are still involved in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise of electoral rolls, council president Chiranjib Bhattacharya said at a press meet here on Monday.

Around 2,100 centres (higher secondary schools) are being used for the semester III and IV examinations statewide.

As part of stricter monitoring measures, CCTV cameras have been installed at all entrance gates and over 100 venues have been categorised as "sensitive" to be placed under additional supervision.

This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.