PUNE: The Mukhyadhyapak Mahasangh of
Maharashtra, an association of
school principals and teacher associations, has demanded that the
vaccination drive for adults starting from May 1 should have
Std XII students on the priority list.
The associations have approached the state government demanding that every student enrolled for the Std XII board exams, irrespective of the board, be vaccinated first so that they are able to give offline exams rescheduled in June. The associations said there were chances of some students falling short of 18 years by 3-4 months who should also be considered for the vaccine as they were enrolled for the examination.
Senior member of the principals’ association S B Deshmukh said the recent developments have brought two important things to fore that the Std XII exams give it any board will happen and secondly the adult vaccination will start from May 1.
“These are extremely important developments with respect to the board exam aspirants. We have appealed to the state government to ensure that the higher secondary school (HSC, std XII) students are taken on priority for vaccination wherever they are. This will build a lot of confidence among the students if vaccinated. By the time they take the papers in June, they should also be able to complete the second dose and exams can be scheduled accordingly,” he said.
Deshmukh said if the students are vaccinated then the fear about the disease will be less among them and they will be able to give the exam confidently.
Doing Away With Fear
Over 12 lakh students from Maharashtra registered for HSC examination
Central
Board of Secondary Education and the Council for Indian Certificate of Secondary Education have also rescheduled the ISC board exams after cancelling the Std X exams
Association of principals said there will be close to 13 to 14 lakh Std XII students in the state
Adhyapak Mahamandal in Pune has over 5,000 registered members
It wants students and staff that involved in the conduct of the examination vaccinated
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The teachers and other staff are anyway eligible for vaccination but it should be made mandatory for them to take both the doses and appointed only on vaccination certificate. If any staff is not vaccinated then they should not be appointed on duty for examination
Subhash Jagtap I Member of Adhyapak Mahamandal