Relief for students, sticky task for private schools
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: June 28, 2021 -

OTHER than cancelling the crucial Class X and XII examinations and promoting en-masse the student candidates, there was no way the BSEM or the CoHSEM could work out a viable formula to tide over the impact of the noble coronavirus on the education sector.

With the pandemic continuing to affect all sectors and education being among the hardest hit, it is but natural that the state government had to save the careers of thousands of students through facilitation of their academic pursuit in the form of elevating them to the next levels.

Technology has been considered central to the reform of school education and has gained unprecedented momentum during this pandemic.

It is being perceived as a panacea to combat all the education/ schooling related issues, hence the hurry to transfer classrooms into the virtual world.

In fact, conduct of online classes, whether or not it is accessible to all the students, the poor in particular, have been providing a semblance of keeping alive the teaching and learning process for the past many virus-ravaged months.

However, technological advancement and its applicable as an indispensible educational component in this pandemic period was technically limited to only keeping the students occupied and compelling them to focus on the lessons dissected online as is evident from such an innovative procedure unable to assess the students' cerebral content through conduct of the examination as had been the tradition for decades.

Since the pandemic has disrupted the normal lifestyle of people across the globe, the virtual world was seen as the only resort to keep alive the academic schedule. Amongst many institutions, schools also shifted their base to virtual platforms to conduct classes online.

Consequently, catering to the needs of all stages of education from pre-primary to university level, online education has emerged as an alternative to ordinary face-to-face classes.

Nevertheless, it is obvious that those students who were working hard to cull top marks and secure the best grades would be left a frustrated lot as their hard work will not be tested and rewarded.

For the ordinary students, the announcement made by education minister S Rajen that the state is making necessary arrangements for complying with the order of the Supreme Court to announce the results of classes X and XII examinations within July 31 will be welcomed heartily for they are now guaranteed elevation to the higher class without any serious toiling.

In sharp contrast, students who had been burning the midnight oil to showcase their academic brilliance through the annual examinations would be ruing that their efforts wouldn't be reflected as expected for the cumulative marks allotted to them will be based on internal assessment, scores in the previous class, pre-board or council examinations conducted by the respective schools.

However, all the students will have to acknowledge the fact that due to the Covid-19 crisis promotion of all was the lone option to ensure continuation of the education process and that their peers in many countries too are facing similar uncertainties.

While it's a win-win situation for the students albeit distasteful for some, it would be interesting how the highly commercialised private higher secondary schools would be scouting the class X pass-outs this time around as they have been banking on the toppers to enhance their profile and thicken the bank balance.