Class 12 students across Delhi-NCR largely welcome the government’s decision to cancel the 2021 board exams, which they say is far better than keeping them anxious and in limbo, by repeatedly announcing postponements.
But a few are not in favour of the exams getting postponed to July-August or the evaluation system either. Six students give their opinions to The Morning Standard about the pros and cons of this decision.
Gayatri Mutreja, Army Public School, Noida
It is a good decision as many students don’t have the resources to study online. Even in my school, some households have just one laptop or cell phone, and online learning for such students was very difficult.
You can well imagine the situation in smaller towns, where even accessing the Internet would be difficult. Moreover, the question here is of health. It would not be wise to venture out of homes with Covid- 19 still raging on.
But I am not happy with the evaluation process, as there are children who don’t pay much attention to their studies throughout the year, and only study for the boards. Such students don’t get good marks in internal exams or pre-boards.
Moreover, preboards are tougher than the board papers, so a large number of students don’t fare well in it, and taking that into consideration for evaluation is not good.
Harsh vardhan Singh Raghav, Suraj School, Gurugram
It is good that the boards have been cancel led. In fact, we had not finished our syllabus.
It is good that the government removed the uncertainty as the pending decision was leading to a lot of confusion, and I couldn’t concentrate on preparing for the IIT entrance tests.
Students preparing for engineering/ medical or other entrance tests can do so with a calm mind now. With the pandemic still not over, it would put the health of lakhs at stake were they to get out of their homes to give the exams.
Aysuh Ranjan, DAV , Vasant Kunj, Delhi
I was wellprepared and looking forward to giving the boards. But now, I can concentrate on my NEET preparation, though holding the boards in July/August would clash with my NEET coaching classes.
This is a sigh of relief for students who got infected or whose family member/s did. I lost my dear uncle to Covid in May, and my cousin got infected too - all of which really disturbed me.
Being the only male member in the family (father is posted in Bihar, and staying here with my mother, grandmother and sister), it was very taxing. I was constantly worried about what if someone else falls sick in the family?
Luckily, we sailed through without the need for oxygen cylinders - but maybe many students out there were not so fortunate.
Also, for college admission, most courses have entrance exams, and I think the government should make the entrance test for each undergraduate course mandatory.
Arya Khattar, Manav Rachna School, Faridabad
I had prepared well, a n d was ready to give the exams. But the very fact that the government had been dilly-dallying about taking a decision was killing all the enthusiasm.
Moreover, holding exams in July/August is not a good idea since that is the time for beginning college studies.
So good, these have been cancelled now. At least there is no confusion. But the boards could have been held if the examination centres were the respective schools.
Many are worried about evaluation criteria, but not bothered since I aim to do a BBA, which hasan entrance exam, so how much I score in Class 12 does not matter.
Astha Mishra, Army Public School, Noida
I am in favour of the boards getting cancelled. My concern with the boards being conducted was what if a student contracted the virus between the exams?
This uncertainty revolving around the boards had put teachers, students and parents under immense stress, and now we can focus on our college entrances and competitive exams.
This cancellation also shows that as a country we have progressed, and we can find alternatives when needed and no longer need to rely on the age-old systems.
I hope the government and CBSE come up with a fair evaluation system.
Umang Khandelwal, GD Goenka Public School, Model Town
Cancelling boards was a must considering not all 45+ have been vaccinated, and being under 18, a majority of Class 12 students cannot get vaccinated.
Venturing out of home to give exams would have put everyone’s life at stake. But, I am not satisfied with the evaluation process being adopted (evaluating on the basis of internal assessments) because most Class 12 students don’t bother about internal exams or even pre-boards.
Their main focus is on the final Board exams.
I think the government should conduct one exam in August, which should include questions on all the subjects (just like the entrance exams for various undergraduate courses) and that should be considered as a Class 12 final exam.