Team Herald
Panjim: Before the dates for the SSC examinations were announced on Wednesday, it was a terrible plight for the student community and their parents. The SSC examinations will now be held on May 21.
Nearly 17,000 students have registered themselves for Class X board examination, which were supposed to be held from April 2. However, the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown resulted into the postponement of the exam dates, which led to unwarranted stress amongst the student community.
How students, parents fared before the dates were finally announced
From the time of the lockdown till Wednesday morning, the students and their parents were filled with anxiety regarding the dates. They had then wanted the government to parents and their children had wanted the government to provide them with more clarity as the constant postponements with every phase of the lockdown was extremely frustrating.
There even was a common consensus amongst them that the kids should be promoted to class XI based on their internal marks and that the government should scrap the examination, in the interest of the children.
“I was stressed as earlier, there was no clarity regarding when the exams would be conducted. I would wake up early morning everyday and study. I could not take any risk as far as my studies are concerned,” Sanjana Padgaonkar, class X, student from Verem, said.
Merlin Mariam, another student, from Panjim, said, “Our board exams were postponed, which had left us anxious. It could also delay the evaluation of papers and result declaration, which may impact the new admissions and also our future career. We cannot blame government as the situation is such that we need to cooperate”.
Earlier, the parents, who have been the biggest support and counsellors for the students, felt that the government should have worked out some mechanism earlier to given the high stress levels.
Earlier, the mere postponing of the exam date with each phase of lockdown started taking a toll on the mindset of the students, claims a parent from Sanguem, Joao Piedade Mascarenhas.
Another parent, Pandarinath Karpe, opined that the government should have decided on scrapping the exams during the academic year. He also feared the possibility of coronavirus raising its ugly head, when the students come together in large number to answer the exams. Instead, Karpe suggested that the exams be conducted school-wise as opposed to centre-wise, at least during the current year.
A parent from Quepem, added that he and his son were of the opinion that students should have been promoted based on their internal marks. “For those who failed to obtain internal marks, Goa Board could have conducted exams, while in the case of others, they should have been promoted,” he added.
Neela Gaitonde, a parent and a teacher by profession, explained that continuous studying can have a castigating impact on the brain of the child. “Since the exams were postponed, the students, especially the toppers, preferred to continue their studies, so that they are prepared, whenever the exams are held. But that was taking a toll on their health and brain,” she added.
“Today’s children are career oriented and don’t want their future to be affected,” she added.
While parents and students have their own views, the schools felt that conducting examinations are a must to assess the student’s performance.
Bhagwan Raut, a parent from Tuem added that even though there is lockdown, it was important that the the government had the HSSC exams but feels proper social distancing is also a must. “They should select the school and particular number of students, which will avoid crowding as well as social distancing, will be maintained. My child was well prepared and ready to answer the exams as per the previous scheduled dates. Because of the earlier postponements when the lockdown was extended, my child was disappointed,” Raut added.
A student Dikshita Salgaonkar said,” When the lockdown was enforced for the first 15 days, I was happy because I got more time to study but earlier, due to the extending of the lockdown and the continuous breaks, it was kind of disturbing. We are ready to answer the exams now but we hope that the authorities make provision of proper social distancing and ensure that safety guidelines are followed.
