‘Are we guinea pigs’: Std XII students worry about evaluation, admission

While the Std XII exam has been cancelled across boards considering the Covid19 pandemic students of the state board continue to wait for news on how they will be evaluated and how admissions to degree courses will take place After a year spent studying online in the middle of a pandemic clueless students have questioned if they are guinea pigs subjected to a trial and error method of educationSaloni Kambli and Johnson JacobThis would be the first time that degree admissions will take place without a Std XII exam While the CBSE had declared that their Std XII result will be based on internal assessments ICSE board is likely to follow the same route But the state government has not given a clear answer for the evaluation of HSC studentsAlso Read Fair evaluation criteria bigger challenge for CBSE Education expertsldquoIt is a weird experience as the relief of no exam is incomplete without having clarity on assessment I am personally relieved that I can focus all my energy on NEET now as in the case of board results I require only 50 per cent minimum marks But there are so many students whose HSC score decides their future journeyrdquo said Nupur Ghanshamnani a student from Thane She said that for students like her too the board exam chapter cannot be closed until there is clarity on assessmentsColleges conduct testsMost colleges are mum on admission process students said amid lack of direction from the govt Representation picldquoSome colleges have started giving students assignments and project work so that internal assessment marks can be given In the absence of Std XII marks though universities or colleges are most likely to hold their own entrance testsrdquo said Saloni Kambli questioning for how long they would have to be in limbo This was in fact the mostasked question by students across boards The students began their Std XII year amid much uncertainty and panic due to Covid19 and studied online for the entire year The students were then expected to appear for exams offline which was opposed by many Even as the Std X exams were cancelled Std XII students kept waiting for over a month ldquoHow are we expected to decide on our higher education journey without knowing the way toward itrdquo questioned KamblildquoOur batch I believe is the one with a peculiar faterdquo said Johnson Jacob an HSC student He explained ldquoSince Std VIII we have been seeing constant syllabus changes When we were in SSC they dropped the 20 marks given for internal assessment for each subjectSudha Shenoy and Johnson JacobldquoThis made scores drop severely When we entered Std XII the entire education sector went online And now in a rarest of rare case the Std XII board exam is cancelled Are we guinea pigsrdquo He continued ldquoNow we have no clue on how our admissions are going to be finalised Colleges are mum about it and rightfully so as they too have no clarityrdquoEnormity of losses sadldquoIt is sad that the pandemic has led to so much loss for this batch especially for those whose admissions depend purely on HSC scores Some colleges have started holding online tests to submit internal assessment marks since there is no clarity if NEETJEE will be held in August as scheduledrdquo said Sudha Shenoy a parent adding that the batch is experiencing a complete trial and error methodNupur and Dr Lata GhanshamnaniAccording to Dr Lata Ghanshamnani it is high time for the government to have foresight for upcoming batches Mother of two Dr Ghanshamnani said ldquoThese batches be it HSC or SSC have suffered immensely When we say they have become guinea pigs have the authorities really learnt anything from this experiment so that upcoming batches are spared It is already the beginning of the new academic year and there is no assurance that the pandemic is going to be completely under control now In this case shouldnrsquot authorities across boards start taking proactive steps starting by reducing the syllabus to holding exams earlier this time say around JanuaryrdquoJune 2Day the state govt recommended cancelling HSC exams to the disaster management committee