Delhi schools hope to hold exams offline

Many schools are of the view that they could reopen for classes 9-11 gradually by February-March if curbs are lifted amid a decline in Covid cases.

With the continued closure of schools amid the pandemic, school administrations said they’d hold online assessments for students in junior classes but were still hoping to hold in-person exams for students in senior classes (9-12) by March.

Sudha Acharya, chairperson of the National Progressive School Conference (NPSC), a consortium of 122 Delhi schools, said that while assessments for students in Class 8 and below could be conducted online, schools were still hopeful of holding in-person exams for students in senior classes. (Representational image)

Many schools are of the view that they could reopen for classes 9-11 gradually by February-March if curbs are lifted amid a decline in Covid cases.

Sudha Acharya, chairperson of the National Progressive School Conference (NPSC), a consortium of 122 Delhi schools, including Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Bal Bharati Public School, Springdales School, Sanskriti School, Delhi Public Schools, Ahlcon International School, and Amity International School, said that while assessments for students in Class 8 and below could be conducted online, schools were still hopeful of holding in-person exams for students in senior classes.

“For students in classes 9 to 12, we will not hold online exams. We will wait for the Covid situation to improve. We think that the situation might improve by February-end, and we will be able to reopen schools and conduct exams offline,” said Acharya, who is also the principal of ITL Public School.

Acharya said that while online classes were taking place, the school would focus on the completion of practical exams and revision of the syllabus as and when schools reopened. “Physical classes cannot be replaced. The World Bank, WHO, and other global experts have said that schools should not remain closed, but we are not learning from global practices,” she said.

Tanya Joshi, principal of Indian School, said that while the school’s decision would depend on the evolving Covid situation, it aimed to conduct classes for students in classes 10 and 12 in March.

Joshi said that the experience from the CBSE Term 1 examination had shown them that students needed to work on various fronts. “Students are not ready. We saw the challenges that arose during the first term and need to resolve them,” said Joshi.

While outlining the learning gap and the changing nature of the teaching-learning process due to the pandemic, Joshi said that a sense of fatigue was bogging down stakeholders. “Now, parents themselves are asking us to ensure that their child attends classes attentively while keeping the web camera on. They can sense that the children’s interest levels are waning with time,” said Joshi.

Jyoti Arora, principal of Mount Abu Public School in Rohini, said that the school was hopeful that it would be able to conduct end of term exams offline by the end of February or beginning of March. “We are confident that we will be able to hold exams offline as the situation continues to improve. The assessment and subsequent doubt clearing sessions that take place offline are extremely crucial,” said Arora.

She said that it was crucial for schools to reopen to bridge the learning gap, which had widened in the past few years. “We will not be able to fulfil the gap if schools don’t reopen now. For two years, learning has been taking place remotely and its impact will be far-reaching. Even parents are beginning to understand that schools need to reopen,” said Arora.