The students' protest prompted the West Bengal government to seek a review of the Class 12 exam results.
The West Bengal government today removed Ms Mahua Das from the post of president of the state higher secondary education council, less than a month after she highlighted the religion of the topper while declaring the results and after the students who failed to make the grade went on a rampage across the state till the board eventually gave all of them pass marks.
The twin controversies erupted on July 22. While declaring the results, Ms Das had repeatedly mentioned the religion of the topper, saying this was the first time a Muslim girl had secured the top spot with 499 marks out of 500, or 99.8 per cent.
Even as that controversy snowballed, 18,000 odd students who failed to make the passing grade went on a rampage, vandalising schools, blocking roads, and gheraoing teacher in protest across West Bengal.
They pointed that higher secondary exams were not held at all and that students were evaluated on the basis of the Class X board exam results, Class XI exam results, and projects and practical tests in class XII. If 97.53 per cent of the 8,19,202 students enrolled in Class 12 could pass the high secondary exam without actually writing an exam due to prevailing pandemic conditions, why couldn't they, the protesting students asked.
The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE) President said no merit list was to be released this year as the results were based on alternative assessment, the "40:60 formula".
Forty per cent weightage was given, according to this formula, to the best of four subjects in the Class 10 exam held in 2019. Sixty per cent went to the annual Class 11 theory exam held in 2020, along with the Class 12 practical exam or projects, for science and arts respectively.
"All these students...had either fared very poorly in their Class 11 annual exams or failed in practicals or projects in Class 12 and, hence, were declared unsuccessful in the evaluation criteria," Ms Das said.
Nevertheless, the protest prompted the state government to ask the Council to review the results.
After days of protests, the WBCHSE on August 2 announced that all unsuccessful candidates were also declared as passed.
Announcing the revised results, Ms Das said some students who had not even enrolled for this year's Class 12 exam had also participated in the agitation. She, however, did not specify the number of such students.