The emergence of the catastrophic second wave of Covid-19 in India has resulted in the loss of lives, jobs, and livelihood. People are struggling to save their loved ones, desperately arranging for oxygen cylinders, requisite life-saving drugs, and miserably looking for vaccine slots, both on the ground and through the means of social media. Many universities and hospitals have suffered a huge loss as their eminent faculties succumbed to the deadly contagion. In the student community, although the mortality rate has been moderate, the three variant mutant is now claiming the lives of the youth. Many are grappling to save their parents or loved ones in the hospitals and are themselves suffering from both physical and mental exhaustion.
The constant delays in exams by the Centre, long online classes conducted by schools, lack of proper connectivity with teachers, and no physical healthy discussions have already intensified the plight of students. The recent broad consensus between the Centre and most states that Class 12 Board examinations must be held this year despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic may turn out to be the nail in the coffin and an invitation to the much anticipated “third wave”.
As India reels under a calamitous second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, more than two-thirds of its states have extended lockdowns and most of the country is either under lockdown or restrictions like a curfew. With reported daily infections still above 2,00,000 and 3500 plus deaths, any decision on reopening of the country looks farsighted and impractical. On the flip side, owing to the vaccine shortages, the daily inoculation rate is down by 50% in May 2021. Moreover, in contrast to the west, India still hasn’t started vaccinating its under 18 populations, which are proving to be at a higher risk in the third wave. This incongruence substantiates the fact that conducting an offline examination of over one crore class 12th students is irrational and unfounded. The point is clear that Indian education wants to stick to the age-old tradition of conducting exams rather than assessing the knowledge acquired by students. The government boasts about the futuristic approach of NEP 2020 but still, on the ground, significant contrasts persists.
It remains a matter of fact that many students are themselves suffering from Covid-19 and some of them have also developed post-Covid ailments that require time to heal. In this situation, they may unambiguously find it difficult to appear for the exam. Ironically, India could not host cricket matches when the cricketers were in a bio-bubble and we want to risk the lives of our children at the peak of the pandemic. Even though the exams are likely to be shorter in duration, exam centres expanded, and schedules staggered, the infrastructure to conduct exams in a bubble at a nationwide scale is missing in India. It would create more problem rather than solving any.
Even if Covid-testing norms are mandated through rapid diagnostic tests before the exams, are we ready to test over one crore students and thousands of teaching staff regularly at the same time?
Over 1,600 teachers and workers, who were on panchayat poll duty, died in Uttar Pradesh alone in the first week of April due to Covid-19. Moreover, as per IMA, as many as 420 doctors have already died in the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic has turned out to be extremely fatal for all and especially those who are at the forefront of essential duties. In this dire situation deploying thousands of teaching staff to assist the board exams can trigger a nationwide third wave, the last thing India wants and will expose them to high risk.
There are several questions unanswered on which the entire examination conduction process hinges. What if a student gets infected during the break period? Will he/she be stopped from giving the final exam because of the incompetence of the government and other stakeholders? What about the old family members who may get exposed because of their children? What about the students who have scheduled their applications in foreign universities? Will they get any provisional result? It would have been good if the future of our children was decided by teachers and not by politicians who have time and again failed us.
Government reiterations of safe examination conduct cannot assure a 100% safe environment for the students. Satirically, while the central meeting was held online, with the politicians safe in their AC rooms, students will have to appear for the offline exams at the risk of their lives.
A bulletproof and well-timed plan is the need of the hour to safeguard the future of our country and to keep next year sessions on track.
India must emulate developed nations like the UK, France, Belgium, Ireland, and Norway, which have cancelled written exams and administered innovative approaches of evaluation. Any slack behaviour can steer the nation towards a rough trough: either a spike in cases or failure of the education system. It’s high time we understand the predicaments of the students because as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The secret in education lies in respecting the student.”
Rajesh Mehta is a leading consultant and columnist working on market entry, innovation and public policy & Uddeshya Goel is a researcher with specific interests in finance and innovation.