An estimated 6,98,628 candidates will appear for this year’s Class-10 board examinations in West Bengal, which will be held from February 23 to March 4, a senior official said Thursday.

The number of candidates, however, has seen a sharp drop from 10,98,775 in the previous year, President of West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, Ramanuj Ganguly, told a press meet here.

Asked about the reason behind the decline, he said due to the Covid pandemic in the past two years, many students backed out as the classes were held online and their preparations for the exam were inadequate.

Ganguly said 2,867 exam centres will be under CCTV surveillance along with deployment of police personnel.

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