The State Government, on the recommendation of the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, has announced that the Board exams of SSCE and HSSCE will be held starting from 13 May and 26 April, respectively.
“No final decision has been taken regarding the dates for the conduct of board exams and consultations with stakeholders are still in process. The exams, as and when they are to be conducted following all COVID protocols”, stated the board.
Though the exams have been pushed a month further than the usual and that the students have been informed 4-5 months prior the exam but considering the pandemic is it enough for the students to be prepared for the exam, mentally and physically?
Many students and parents are against this decision due to many reasons. A huge number of students from different places will appear for the exam and one cannot tell who is a carrier of the virus. A single person infected by the virus can be hazardous to everyone else present in that area.
Also, shifting offline classes to online classes has been a drastic change of learning for the students and it has been quite difficult. Some could not attend classes due to the lack of good connectivity, some due to the lack of appliances and for some have made strenuous efforts to adopt to the new way of learning.
“I’m not quite sure about this decision as it has been really challenging for us to learn from online classes. It is difficult to understand what the teachers try to teach. Due to poor connection, communicating with the teachers for difficulties also becomes a problem”, a 12th std student said.
We all know the pressure the students usually answering board exams are under but this time apart from just answering Board exams the students are stressed about answering with a huge number of other students with them considering the increasing COVID cases in the state.
Meanwhile, there are students and parents who believe there is no other way to deal with this and the decision taken by the Government is understandable and not really bad.
“Our internal exams starts on 6 January and it is offline. The internal exams will give us an idea of how the Board exams will go about, the rules regarding COVID. I don’t think we can stay home forever and pushing the exams further will just stress us more. It is better to get done with it. We have almost 5 months to focus and study. The exams cannot be held online as these are Board exams. Though the situation is stressful if the exams are conducted undertaking the necessary precautions and measures there shouldn’t be many problems”, said Adrina Fernandes, a 10th std student.
Several students are in agreement with this decision as there does not seem to be any other way. They prefer the band-aid to be removed quickly than to be removed slowly. If the exams are postponed, it will only increase their stress as the pandemic won’t be over so soon.
However, situations can flip anytime. Precautions were taken before as well but it didn’t always work. Is it safe for a huge number of students to move out on the same campus and answer their exams? After the drastic change in classes, are the students prepared for the exams? Should the exams be postponed or be conducted soon to free the students from stress? Should the Government consider online exams?
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