On Monday, history will be created when over eight lakh students will take the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examination across the state. This batch of SSLC students is the first in the history of education in Karnataka to be appearing for a board examination offline without having taken a single physical final examination over the past two years, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic.
When the pandemic struck the state on March 8, 2020, these students were in Class 8 and after the lockdown was declared later that month, all offline classes turned to online mode, with exams postponed, only to be taken in the online mode.
That batch of students, two years older, and totaling 8.76 lakh across the state, are bracing themselves to face a board examination on the morrow. While many schools did hold two phases of preparatory examinations in their respective schools in the offline mode, to step into exam centres to take the official board examination would be a challenge for many children.
While they underwent stresses and anxieties for the past two years over the education system going for a toss, experts have suggested urgent remedial measures that are needed after these children give their exams as well as introducing bridge courses, and a series of counselling sessions to prepare them academically and psychologically for years ahead.
Roshan, an SSLC student from Mysuru, expresses confidence of faring well in the examination, but also remains anxious that he is facing an examination offline after two years. “Though preparatory exams were held to help us know how exams would be held, that fear of final exams still makes us worry. Preparatory somewhat has helped us to deal with it but most of all we need to gain more confidence,” he says.
Several students in Shivamogga say that though they are ready to write the examination and are happy that they are able to appear for the boards, their anxiety levels are higher than their seniors two years ago.SSLC student Aditya says he is confident of writing the board exam, but there will be anxiety when the invigilator starts circulating the question paper. “We can face a number of online exams confidently but not offline,” he confesses.
Shankara Narayan, a retired high school headmaster in Hassan who conducts counselling and training for students, says there is a big difference between online and offline exams and even meritorious students get confused while understanding and writing due to anxiety — especially after a gap of two years.
Poornima M, a former student counsellor from Mysuru, says realising the problem of SSLC students, several private institutions took the help of counsellors over the last three months. “Anxiety among students over examinations is not new. They face mental pressure in the run-up to the examination. But this time, it is different. The education department should have ensured that schools, whether they are private or government, take the help of counsellors for the last two-three months to help students gain confidence. ,” she says.
Dr Uma Hirisave, Professor and Clinical Psychology Consultant, National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), says, “There have been many children coming to us worried as they have answered only MCQ (multiple choice questions) and have lost the stamina of writing to the pace of covering three-hour-long exams. They have sought exemptions, more time to complete etc. They have lost the practice of writing. Also, some children who already had learning issues were pushed to the next grades without any assessments so they are also finding it difficult now to attempt exams offline.”
However, to a question on whether the state government should provide concessions for students, Dr Uma says it is better they don’t do that. “As this is the SSLC exam, if they are given grace marks and promoted to PUC they will again get stuck in II PUC, causing even more concerns. We have to tell the parents and children that it is okay to take up supplementary exams if they don’t fare well in these exams. Also, it is okay to repeat a year,” she says.She suggests that the education department make use of the summer vacations and one extra month at the beginning of I PUC.
Few offline classes affecting kids: Minister
Primary and Secondary Education Minister BC Nagesh says that very few offline classes are impacting these children. “We are now coming up with bridge courses for all students as their offline classes have started. Through this we want to fill those gaps which they missed in their previous academic year,” he adds. He says the education department is aware that those writing SSLC exams this time are doing so for the first time in their high school as they could not write proper exams in the last two years. “We therefore made them write two preparatory exams this year. This was to make them practice sitting for three hours to write exams. We were not bothered about their marks in these preparatory exams, but wanted them to sit and write exams,” he says.
IMPACT ON URBAN-RURAL STUDENTS
Academic Basavaraj Kumanoor, a retired principal of Ambedkar Degree College in Kalaburagi, is of the opinion that the effect of offline exams would be different on rural and urban students. Rural students’ parents are mostly not literate, and during holidays children work with their parents. As these parents cannot help their children with studies, the students tend to take exams lightly. “If you ask a rural student about an exam, the simple answer is ‘I will write what I know’,” he says. But in urban centres, the competition is more among parents than among students, which puts undue pressure on students. These issues need to be addressed separately, sensibly and with sensitivity, he says.