After the apex court agreed to hear a petition seeking the cancellation of physical exams for Class 10th, and 12th grade to be conducted by all State Boards, CBSE, ICSE, and the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), students are keen that their plea will be heard positively by the apex Court.
Students, activists, and advocates have been voicing their worries for several days, and while they are happy that their appeal will be heard, they are also expecting a positive response from the authorities. “It's my kind request to SC, to give justice to our innocent board students. Students should be evaluated on internal assessment through accomplishments throughout the year. Internal Assessment reflects true year-long hard work," said student Activist, Himanshu Borah.
Students have their own set of reasons for looking for an alternative to offline board exams. They are concerned that their portion is incomplete and lack the confidence to appear for offline board exams. Ansh Mishra, a student from Mumbai said, "We are concerned about the offline exams because our studies have been conducted entirely online for the past two years. It's the behest of lakhs of Aspirants. Don't let our career be degraded in this manner. It's our meek plea to authorities to consider the request. We are not prepared for the offline exam. We are not confident to give the exam."
Students believe online studies have not brought justice to them and their concepts are not clear. A 12th-grade student from Mumbai, Siddhi Otari had a similar viewpoint, said, “We are not ready for offline examinations. Our speculative and practical knowledge is underdeveloped. Our syllabus is not completed. We didn't understand the depth of the concept, not even any subject. Hope so our respectful authorities will have a look into this matter."
Whereas teachers believe that students are well prepared for the examinations, Archana Khona, Supervisor from Adarsh English School Mumbai said, "Actually last year it was difficult for them to write a paper due to high peak of cases, but now everything is normal and students have started attending school before Diwali, so I think they should go for the offline exam instead of online exam. They have got enough time to study."
The plea was filed by child rights activist Anubha Shrivastava Sahai against the State Boards, CBSE, ICSE, NIOS who are going to conduct board exams for the 10th and 12th in offline mode. Sahai is seeking an alternate mode of assessment instead of offline exams.
