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Parents unhappy over decision to scrap final exams for classes one to eight
Parents in the city are unhappy about the decision to promote all students from class one to class eight without any examination
Parents in the city are unhappy about the decision to promote all students from class one to class eight without any examination.
On Saturday, Maharashtra education minister Varsha Gaikwad announced on the backdrop of rising cases of Covid-19 that students from class one to class eight will be promoted without any examination.
The decision for class nine and class 11 will be taken soon, said Gaikwad
Archana Kakade, a city-based parent said that schools should conduct online examinations for students.
“The entire year has been online so what is the harm in taking online examinations. At least on the backdrop of examination, students will remain engaged and try to clarify the concepts. Classes one to eight are crucial in building the concept of the child and so online examinations should be conducted,” said Kakade.
She further added that if the students have to pass without any examination, then why are parents paying exorbitant fees?
“Though this year, the increase in fee was not imposed but the existing fee for library, sports and other activities were included. In such a scenario, if the schools are not even conducting examinations, then why are we paying them the fees? The students prepare and work hard because of the fear of examination. In such a scenario, the examination should not be cancelled,” said Kakade.
Another parent, Mrunal Kulkarni, said that examinations are a crucial part of the curriculum.
“If schools can teach online, conduct the midterm exams online, then they should also conduct the final exams online. Exams help students understand where they lack. In any case, under the Right to Education (RTE), students were promoted till class eight. So why not conduct the exam and then promote students,” said Kulkarni.
Jayashree Deshpande, president of the parents’ association of Pune said that if the school is not taking any exam, then why are parents paying such huge fees to the school?
“I firstly condemn the brutal violence of students who were protesting at Mumbai against offline examination. Secondly, if all the schools are just going to promote the students to the next class without examination, then what is the point? The schools should conduct online examinations for class one to class eight. These standards are important for the overall education of students,” said Deshpande.
