THURSDAY, MAY 09, 2024
It is an undisputed fact that the present petrifying pandemic as a bird of ill-omen has taken a greater toll on the children of all ages. Tucked inside the four walls of their homes for over a year now it seems that their salad days are washed away in fear and anxiety. With no physical school classes for a month of Sundays, the children were unable to taste the Pierian spring in the company of their teachers.
Furthermore, no sunshine, no outdoor activities, no group laughter and deprived of cakes and ale the blank walls facing them are painted only with murky question marks. When will the tension of studies and more studies will come to an end? How many times the students have to listen to the changing tunes of the education department?
The world created by Christopher Nolan and James Cameron on the wide screen has become a reality for children as the pandemic has converted their world of fun and frolic into a word of fantasy. And to add insult to injury, the second wave of corona virus has pushed them further into the valley of depression. The hardest hit are the students of standard tenth and twelfth as the decision of their final exams is still kept in the limbo by the concerned authorities.
The schools had conducted online classes for the entire academic year but the first and the second formative exams as well as the prelims were held with physical presence of the students. The schools had also categorically mentioned that those marks will be counted while declaring the final results. Many parents were reluctant to send their children to school to answer these exams when the virus was still virulent and no one was out of woods. There was no option left but to send their children to school to answer the exams for the fear that they may lose a year.
When the coast was clear the final exams were not held. And now when the pandemic is at its peak and the virus has darkened its shadow the authorities still want to hold the exams in July. It makes no sense and one wonder whether the Government is holding the wrong end of the pandemic stick.
Changing the horses of decisions midstream will only worsen the mental condition of the students. If at all the education department is hell bent on holding the exams then they should be held online. At such unprecedented times skies will not fall if the exams are cancelled and results are declared based on the past performance of the students. The decisions taken in this regard should not be a day late and a dollar short as the children definitely need some time to recuperate before their next academic year.
The chickens of much hyped slogan “India has beaten corona” have now come home to roost and have cut a sorry picture in the eyes of the rest of the world. The lessons should not be ignored as the third wave looms large. The road is slippery. The government cannot afford to throw more banana skins for students to walk blindly without a map of future course of actions in regards to their exams.
Though the decision in regards to these exams is still not clear as a bell it definitely leaves all the stakeholders high and dry. And delaying it further will tantamount to sailing close to the winds. This opens much space for confusion in the minds of the parents as well as the students. It is high time the education department smells the coffee and take the right decision so as to take the burden of studies off the student’s heads.
