E-Paper
Class 12 CBSE students from J&K welcome cancellation of exams
As the central government on Tuesday cancelled Class 12 CBSE board exams in wake of safeguarding the health of students, thousands of students from Jammu and Kashmir, who were to appear in this contested exam, welcomed the decision
As the central government on Tuesday cancelled Class 12 CBSE board exams in wake of safeguarding the health of students, thousands of students from Jammu and Kashmir, who were to appear in this contested exam, welcomed the decision.
“Students in J&K were facing a lot of stress due to the circumstances in the UT from past few years. Cancellation of these exams is a sigh of relief for students, as classwork is almost shut in J&K since August 2019,” said Raja Asif, a Class 12 CBSE student from Kashmir.
Asif adds that if there was further delay in the exams, students would have lost a complete year. “We have a different session schedule. Schools here fall under the local UT board and they have already conducted exams in Kashmir. Universities and colleges have also started admissions here unlike the rest of India where college admissions begin after CBSE declares the results,” says Asif.
“Not only students, parents too were worried about conducting exams in these conditions. Most students and teachers who would appear and invigilate the exams, are still not vaccinated,” said Faisal Ahmad, a student.
He added that even if student vaccination would have been given a priority, this meant there was a delay of over two to three months until all students get both doses administered.
Another student, Muheeba Ayoub, said it was imperative to cancel these exams for not facilitating a third wave as lakhs of students were at risk of a potential infection through these exams.
“The decision of not forcing students to take the exam has relieved us,’ Ayoub added.
Meanwhile, academicians in J&K said that the decision to cancel these exams is not in best interest of students.
Shah Fayaz, who heads the Jammu and Kashmir Teachers’ Association, said that cancellation of exams of Class 12 students will have far reaching impact on the future of the society.
Fayaz adds that the government should have instead delayed the exams and conducted them after a few months as Class 12 students, unlike little children, are conscious of Covid-appropriate behaviour. “They are old enough to abide by the safety protocol and conducting exams of such students is not a big deal,” he said.
Dr Shashikant Dixit, principal of Delhi Public School, Kashmir, said that there is no replacement to life and cancellation of physical exams was the only option left as students were unprepared owing to persistent crisis in the country.
Dixit added that the decision has created distress among students who had been preparing hard to score well in their board exam.
He said that CBSE most likely will keep a second option open by conducting offline exams in October for those who don’t wish their grades to be assessed internally by schools.
Sofi Rafeeq, a teacher at a CBSE school said the decision is a disrespect to the hard work of students who had been burning their midnight oil amid such a crisis to score well in exams.
Rafeeq added that the assessment that will be done now will largely put students in the same fray and there will be an aggregate average scoring of marks by all students.
