Covid: In-person examinations worry for Class XII students

Those who have secured admission to foreign universities could lose a year or a term if the Centre insists on holding the exams

Parents said students should not be forced to write the exam because it would be a time-consuming process till the publication of results, which could jeopardise the child’s chance of studying at a foreign university.: File photo

Jhinuk Mazumdar   |   TT  |  Calcutta   |   26.05.21 : Hundreds of students who have secured admission to foreign universities could lose a year or a term if the Centre insists on holding the Class XII examinations after the Covid situation improves, their parents and teachers complained.

One such parent wrote an open letter and posted on social media that her son has secured admission in a university and may end up losing his seat if he does not have a Class XII pass certificate by August 1.

The parent asked why a student should be assessed on one three-hour written examination. “What purpose does sitting for the examination, exposing themselves to infection serve for them? Why should their careers be put on hold or jeopardised altogether,” the mother wrote.

She also raised the point that the International Baccalaureate had cancelled its exams in India because of the number of Covid cases. She wrote: “It is sad that their own country and education system should fail these children and make them believe their situation is not understood and the ministry lacks empathy and responsiveness.”

Many teachers that The Telegraph spoke to in Calcutta agreed with the parents.

“There can be multiple ways of assessing a student — viva, essays, school performance — and not just rest everything on one examination. After more than a year into the pandemic there should have been a formula,” said Devi Kar, the director of Modern High School for Girls.

Some parents said students should not be forced to write the exam because it would be a time-consuming process till the publication of results, which could jeopardise the child’s chance of studying at a foreign university.

Many teachers pointed out that the accepted norm in the west now was to put the onus on the colleges to pick the most suitable candidates for a particular course.

“Some colleges and universities take students from different countries on the basis of essays, school performance and letters of recommendation that are elaborate documents,” said Kar.

Students who have applied to various foreign universities got admission on the basis of their academic performance in Classes IX, X and XI and the mid-year exam of Class XII.

In one university, students wrote an online written exam and appeared for an interview based on the written paper.

Siddhanth Gupta, a Class XII student, said he needed to provide a result by mid-July to be able to study law and criminology in Murdoch University in Perth or lose a semester despite having secured admission. “If I cannot show the result, the university will defer my admission to the next semester in February which means I lose eight months,” he said.

Another Class XII student received a letter from the University of Illinios Urbana-Champaign that said: “We will need your high school to be completed by August 1, otherwise you will need to apply again in a future entry term when you will have your high school completion done prior to the start of the courses.”

The parent who posted the open letter said: “There would be a small set of children who would rather take the exam. Can this small or at least much smaller number be given the option of taking physical exams when feasible?”

The parent who wrote on social media brought forth the predicament of students.

“Most career paths require children to take competitive exams besides qualifying Class XII. For a large number of students, examinations serve no purpose, they just need a qualifying grade to access the next stage of their education... These children have... struggled for over a year to secure admission in foreign universities.”