Central Board of Secondary Education has cancelled Class 10 exams and postponed Class 12 exams. It is such a relief for students and their parents. Students of Class 10 and Class 12 were so stressed about giving Board exams amidst this Coronavirus pandemic phase, especially when Covid cases are at its peak. The uncertainty of exams and how it would have been possible following all Covid protocols were added burden on students together with the usual exams pressure. The reason of parents not wanting to send kids for exams was quite understandable. Conducting offline exams in May would have been a compromise on health and safety of youth of India.
Already, everyone is facing the panic and fear of the deadly disease and the depression of social distancing and not being able to socialise. Rapidly surging cases are creating a fearful environment with uncertainties. The new variant of the virus is even more contagious and more kids are getting infected by it in comparison to the previous one.
With all this pressure in mind, parents and their families were, otherwise, bound to send their kids for exams with the fear and risk of the disease. The long-term effect on body, after recovering from the disease, is also not known yet. There was uncertainty of what would have happened if kids got infected with Covid in between their exams and if they failed to give the next falling exam.
Many families affected by Covid at the exam time would have been already going through a disturbed phase because of Covid positive member at their house or in the hospital. It would have been unfair and injustice for those kids to give exams in such a situation. In spite of all panic at home, such students appearing for the exams could have infected many others in the exam hall. Following Covid protocols in crowded schools would have been impossible.
Most of the students appearing for the exams would be taking public means of transport like crowded buses and autos which could be very risky for them. Recent Lancet study suggests that Covid spreads through air also. At least, till the corona cases graph goes very low, conducting offline exams seems very difficult and undesirable. Taking online exams doesn’t seem to be an option as we lack in proper infrastructure for it.
Many students don’t have gadget facilities for it. As Class 12 exams are a major deciding factor for the future of kids, its importance cannot be overlooked. It would be good if students can be judged on the basis of some internal assessments by their schools. Students not happy with the internal exams could be given an option to appear for offline exams on later dates decided by CBSE, as per the situation. This will definitely reduce the number of students appearing for the exams as it will not be mandatory but their choice.
India is amongst the worst affected countries in the world in this pandemic. Offline exams would be putting the health of youth of India at risk. As students well being is our priority, some other means of assessing students should be sorted instead of conducting offline exams.
