Bihar: Many students, teachers and parents favour delayed exams

PATNA: Amid the growing anxiety over the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic and its repercussions on study, many students and their parents want the Class X and XII board and competitive examinations early next year to be postponed for some time.
Union minister for education Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank on Friday invited the views of students, parents and teachers on how and when to conduct these exams."Dear students, I understand that 2020 hasn't been the best year for you & you have been worried about your future. I will be meeting you live on Dec 3 to discuss the upcoming competitive & board exams. Share your concerns/suggestions with me using #EducationMinisterGoesLive (sic)," he tweeted.
Adeeba Obaid, a Class XII student of Notre Dame Academy, said the board examinations should be slightly postponed in view of the pandemic. "The syllabus is about to complete, but we need time for revision. I think the exams should start from March- end and the competitive exam after the board exams," she said.
Pragya Narayan, a Class XII student of Patna Central School, also favoured exam postponement. She said the board examinations as well as the competitive exams like NEET and JEE should be postponed to May or June, so that students may get more time for study.
Vikram Aditya of DAV Public School said, "The syllabus is reduced. But we still need more time to prepare for the board exams, as we are only done with 60-65% of the syllabus. In online mode, the teachers are teaching at a slower pace compared to offline classes. We also need time for the practical to understand the topics," Aditya said.
"The 30% reduction in syllabus was not very helpful. Only the easy topics were removed while we still have to study all the complex topics, which take time to understand," said, Aditya Kumar, a Class X student of Gyan Niketan.
A resident of Gola Road, Pradeep Sen's daughter Divya studies in Class X. "As the session was delayed due to the pandemic, the kids need time to prepare for the board exams, which should be slightly postponed keeping the delay of session in mind," he said.
Farhat Hasan, directress of International School, said the exams should be conducted as per the pandemic situation. "The exam dates should be extended, if the situation is bad, because the kids are the super-spreader and the situation may turn worse. If the situation is good then extra precaution should be taken for the containment of the virus," she said.
Abha Chaudhary, a chemistry teacher at Notre Dame Academy, said the exams should be delayed by a month but the syllabus should not be reduced.
St Joseph's Convent High School teacher Alka Choudhary Jha, however, said the examinations should be held on time unless the whole session is delayed. "The syllabus has already been reduced and online classes are going on. Students also get time for self-study at home," she argued.