Coronavirus: Maintain good oral hygiene. (Source: Getty Images)
STUDENTS OF 13 dental colleges of Punjab have started a campaign on Twitter demanding postponement of Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) exams, which are scheduled to begin July 7.
The exams are organised by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) , Faridkot. For the third and final year, they are slated to start from July 7, while first and second year students’ exams are to start from July 27. However, a number of students are saying that they are not ready to sit for the exams amid the Covid-19 pandemic and have asked the authorities to postpone the exams.
Rahul Setia, one such student of Baba Jaswant Singh Dental College, who lives in Fazilka, said, “I will have to come to Ludhiana, stay in the hostel during exams and hence, I fear getting infected. Moreover, they have asked us to get ourselves tested for Covid-19 before coming to the examination hall and if anyone tests positive, his/her exam will be taken in the isolation centre. Students are upset with these rules.”
The Dental Students Association of Punjab has also written to Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, stating that the coursework of many colleges has also not been completed. Deepanshu, vice-president of the association, said “Many students come from Kashmir where internet services also don’t work properly and hence one can imagine how they would have attended online classes.”
Exams normally conducted in May have been postponed due to Covid-19. Students said that most of them have to travel inter-district while many have to travel from outside Punjab as well. Students who are to come from other states have also been told to come early as they will be kept in 14 days’ quarantine. Amritsar MLA Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu is also supporting the students and is part of their social media campaign of #postponebdsexams.
There are three government dental colleges in Patiala, Faridkot and Amritsar while the rest are private, in which over 3,000 students have to appear for their exams. Dr Raj Bahadur, vice-chancellor of BFUHS, told The Indian Express, “We are conducting exams of MD, MS as well and those students have no issues. We are taking care of the theory of exams to be conducted by PGI as well. Everyone is ready to give exams following guidelines except a few dental students. On Sunday, 8,000 nurses appeared for the entrance exam for recruitment of nurses in 85 centres and they have no issues. Two nurses tested positive. They are asymptomatic and their exams will be taken in the isolation centres only where they have been admitted. Similar measures will be followed for dental students as well in case anyone comes positive and is asymptomatic. If anyone from outside Punjab is not able to come, their exams can be taken later on provided they give information in advance. Moreover, another chance to appear for exams can also be given to persons if they happen to be symptomatic which otherwise, in this age group, is a rare case.”
He added, “We are here to support and help students, so that more and more students can appear for exams in the same year. Hence exams are for their benefit only, they need to understand. In case there is any spike in cases, we can review our decision.”