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Goa’s plan to hold SSC and HSSC exams meets with opposition
The Goa government’s decision to allow the Standard 10 and 12 examinations to go ahead from May 20 has met with opposition both from opposition political parties as well as civil society and teachers associations.
The Goa government’s decision to allow the Standard 10 and 12 examinations to go ahead from May 20 has met with opposition both from opposition political parties as well as civil society and teachers associations which have argued that holding the examinations will endanger the students.
“The government of Goa should advise the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education to take opinion from experts from the field of education and health and find alternatives for SSC and HSSC examination in the current scenario of Corona Pandemic,” Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat said.
“It will be like playing with the lives of young children by forcing them to appear for the examination. The students will be accompanied by their parents who will disturb the physical distancing norms to avoid Covid infection. The government should accept the demand made by Goa Headmasters Association, NGO’s, Social Organisations, Teachers and Students to find alternatives to examination by taking advice from experts,” Kamat also said.
The SSC exams are scheduled to begin on May 21, and two papers of the Std XII exams which were postponed will be held from May 20 to 23. The Goa University has also announced that examinations will restart from June 1.
In a separate letter to the state authorities, the Goa Covid People’s Forum a civil society collective has also asked that the exams be done away with.
“Nearly 20000 Students being in the age group of 15/16 years cannot be expected to maintain social distancing as their energy will make them forget about these norms. Another equal number of parents would be present around the vicinity of the school. If exposed to an asymptomatic student or parent all of them may become infected and they will become carriers and a potential threat to their parents and grandparents at home,” the letter sent to the Chief Secretary and the Goa Board reads.
Similar concerns were raised by the teachers.
“The young children of standard 10th are under tremendous stress and turmoil. Being unaware about when their exams will be held, whether they will be held in the first place. Why do we spend their effort in trying to conduct exams when we can utilize it in finding better alternatives? We cannot afford to subject all our students to the risk of infection. We earnestly request you to relieve our students from such mental torture by cancelling the examinations,. Students can be promoted to the next higher class based on their past performance,” Vithoba Dessai, the past president of the Goa Headmasters Association, said.
The Goa government had granted permission to the state board to hold examinations for Std X and XII from May 20 onwards with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant saying that the norms of social distancing would be followed in all examination halls.
Goa is a green zone with all seven confirmed Covid19 cases having recovered but the status is at risk with interstate travel now increasingly open.
