In the beginning of this pandemic, we didn’t have even the slightest idea of its severity. But as days turned to weeks and weeks to months we came to realise how life-threatening and brutal it has been since. Lockdown after lockdown, so much confusion, the world economy changing dramatically, countries blaming each other, war threats and many more, we saw it all.
But what is bothering the student community is how they can move forward from this situation and work towards their career and education without losing out on much. Schools and colleges took to online platforms to continue the syllabus. They tried their best to switch over from the traditional classroom method. Online classes and assignments were one thing. But online exams are completely unconventional, especially to the Indian education system.
Practically right from class 10th board exams to the various competitive exam like (JEE /NEET /CLAT) everything came to a standstill.
Soon the college sector started thinking of ways to conduct exams online. The main focus was on the final year students who had to be taken care of first and sent into the ‘real world’.
The Indian government along with the respective authority bodies like the CBSE Board, the UGC, BCI, etc. took decisions on the various sects of students, i.e., middle school, high school, college, etc.
For college students, except the final years, were considered to be promoted to the next semester based on their internal marks. Authority bodies like the UGC and BCI issued guidelines to the colleges on the same. For final year students online exams were conducted by outsourcing resources for optimum results.
The issue however lies in the fact that this scheme of promoting students based on their previous records is not favourable and fair to all students. Also there is confusion on whether the online exams will take place or not, because every day contradicting statements and ideas come out. This takes a toll on students as well as the parents who are anxious about the course of their future. Even if the previous records are considered and taken as a base to promote students to the next semester, will it have repercussions in the future is also a serious aspect that is bothering the students and parents likewise.
The pattern for online exams is mostly MCQ (multiple choice questions), which not exactly helps in assessing the in depth knowledge of the students.However, promoting students without a proper examination can prove to be dangerous especially for professional courses like medicine, law, engineering etc. Even majorly qualifying exams like NEET, CLAT, GATE, JEE etc. have been postponed.
In these trying times, essentials like education should not take a back seat as it is something that will shape the future of the country. The uncertainty linked with the current situation and delayed exams are terrifying as it hinders the progress of millions of students who are pursuing their higher education. This not only affects the student community, but also impacts on the growth of our economy. Recently the state governments of Karnataka and Delhi decided to cancel exams. Even the CBSE board decided on reducing 30% syllabus for classes 9 to 12 for the academic year 2020-2021 only. The Council for the Indian Certificate Examinations CISCE reduced 25% for classes 10 and 12 for the year 2021 because of the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Are these good decisions or not, we can’t exactly say now. We can just hope for the best.
Eduindex News 