“Even though a decision such as cancellations of exams is inevitable with the raging pandemic in the scene, in the long run this step will affect the future of the students,” said Educationist C. K. Manjunath. Expressing his opinion on the latest developments in the education department, Manjunath said that this kind of a decision is highly one-sided.
“The Indian education system considers the 12th and 10th standard exams to be the deciding factors in the future of their students,” said Manjunath. He argued that although this used to be the age-old system, now the education is moving more towards ranking system and not at all interested in the real input of the students. He said that the 2021 batch of students will be facing problems when it comes to higher education, placements and finding jobs. “There will be a difference between them and the previous batch or the coming years which will set them apart based on many parameters,” he added.
“No one is looking into all this and they have decided to conduct exams by mixing core papers and students themselves do not know the patterns of these examinations,” he said. He argued that if government has said that everyone will pass in these exams then what is the point in conducting it. He called this decision as unsystematic and chaotic and urged the government to provide some scientific clarification into the matter.
Manjunath was also of the opinion that considering various different factors, cancelling of exams is a good thing. “These students have not gone to schools in more than 15 months. In 9th, the students were promoted and in 10th they did not attend any classes. Same is the case for PU students,” he said. According to a survey that was conducted in rural areas by Manjunath, it was found out that not even 15% of the students have attended the online classes which were held during the pandemic due to various reasons like non-availability of mobile phones, no internet and so on.
Another problem in conducting exams lies with the fact that the students have to travel a long distance to reach their schools and colleges. “In a survey conducted in St. Aloysius College Mangaluru, it was found out that 20% of their students come from Bantwal and 42% of them come from Kasargod. At this rate what facilities can we make so that they are protected from the virus and how can we make sure that they will not catch Covid on the way?”
Manjunath said the private schools wanted exams because their marketing is based on the ranking of their students which are advertised on their banner and government schools doesn’t not want exams because their teachers have not put much effort into it.
As a solution to this present case, Manjunath said that the government should conduct a bridge programme for these students and term it as zero academic year where they can be taught what is needed from these one and a half years that they have lost and make up for it. “In another survey conducted it was found that students don’t even remember the full forms of LCM and HCF which they used to commonly use before. This is just an example, in fact they have forgotten lots more like even words and adjectives,” he said.
“The education department is facing so much pressure on these issues because these decisions are going to have consequences in one way or the other,” said Manjunath. Although there has been a lot of guidelines sent by the government, the implementation process is yet to happen, he added.
