The SSLC and ICSE school final results are the most thrilling events for students. If not for the pandemic the streets would have been choc-a-bloc when the SSLC results were out on Thursday; all the eating joints would be filled with laughter and chatter. Alas these last two years have been uneventful for students. First they had to adjust to online classes which are unsettling for quite a few students. Next is the uncertainty of the examinations due to the pandemic. The MBOSE, SSLC exam was conducted offline between April 19 and May 3 while the HSSLC exams were scheduled between April 16 and May 10 even while Meghalaya went into lockdown on May 5. Examinations for some papers of the HSSLC had to be postponed and held later.
The ICSE examinations which are usually conducted in February/March were cancelled by the board due to the pandemic. Originally, the ICSE and ISC exams 2021 were scheduled from May 4 to June 7. The Board also reduced the ICSE syllabus 2021 by 30 per cent this year owing to the pandemic. Ultimately the exams could not be held. Students were finally assessed on the basis of the best three percentage marks obtained in subjects for which board exams were held and the marks of their internal assessment as well as project work were considered.
India’s education system is deeply embedded in examinations and marks scored. The other attributes of students; their life skills, their creativity their co-curricular strengths are hardly evaluated and yet these are what stand the students in good stead in their future lives; not the percentage of marks scored. The pandemic has disrupted the smooth flow of the “business as usual” education system. No one ever imagined that the staid and predictable mode of dispensing education would now have to undergo a complete makeover because no one is sure now as to when schools, colleges and universities will open up and function “normally.” Yet that ‘normal’ where students attend school, meet with their teachers and peers, discuss anything under the sun and test out their ideas is imperative. It must be appreciated that private educational institutions rely mostly on students’ fees and are actually finding it tough to sustain themselves and to continue to pay the teachers’ salaries when students are not paying their fees regularly. This will take a toll on private institutions. Only those relying on Government funds continue to have it easy. But the best education in this country is mostly provided by private institutions. Government has to consider all these aspects and open up schools, colleges and universities. Students and teachers need to rebuild their lives.
