Students want alternative to exams

Parents feel expecting students to appear for a three-hour long written examination after they studied for the academic year online was a really unfair decision; most want to be promoted based on year-long performance

While the board exams are the biggest concern in the wake of the rising COVID-19 cases, a survey of over 2 lakh students done online shows that 74 per cent of them have said “no” to them while expressing the need for an alternative assessment pattern. After different non-state boards announced they are implementing alternative modes of assessment instead of board exams, there is a growing demand for the same from the state board by students, parents and teachers.

The survey was conducted online by a teacher from a civic school, Dinesh Gupta, who managed to reach out to lakhs of children from underprivileged backgrounds through his YouTube tutorials, as these children could not attend online schools. “The survey was conducted from April 9 to April 16, wherein a huge sample size helped record their opinions. It is time the government actually gives an unbiased review of the situation after knowing what SSC and HSC students have to say,” said Gupta.

While the survey shows a huge chunk of students, 74 per cent, responding against exams; 66 per cent of them have said that everyone should be promoted based on their performances until now, while eight per cent feel that an alternative such as project work or assignment can be worked on for final result. Students do not want the exam to be just postponed.

“What is the point of postponement? I have been studying for this exam from April 2020. It has been a year and there is still no clarity on when exactly it will be held. This uncertainty is putting us in a fix as we are not able to focus on anything else,” said a student waiting to appear for HSC, and who is also preparing for CLAT – an entrance test which will determine his future admission. 

“I am not able to keep HSC studies aside to move on with CLAT studies,” he added.

‘What about mental stress?’

Many parents have said that for most of the students of Std XII, their future admissions are decided with the entrance test, so what is the point of insisting on the HSC score? 

“Schools and junior colleges can very well score students based on their performance until now and past scores. Anyway, expecting students to appear for a three-hour long written examination after completing studies for an entire academic year through online format was a really unfair decision,” said a stressed parent from Navi Mumbai. The parent added that the continuous uncertainty due to postponement of exams without clarity on whether the situation will be better in June; is causing mental stress.

“Everybody is thinking about the physical health of students by postponing exams. But what about their mental health?” she questioned. Many parents and students are writing letters to school education minister Varsha Gaikwad, while continuous tweets are being addressed to her about the issue. 

Cambridge board also cancels exams

The Cambridge board has also cancelled its board examinations. Students will be scored on school assessed grades.  The Cambridge Assessment International Education made the announcement on Friday night. In the communication to affiliated schools, the regulatory body has further elaborated on school-assessed grades and the board will soon clarify the process through webinars and other formats.

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