The quest to beat Covid-19
The decisions on board exams are welcome. Now call off the Kumbh and political rallies
On Wednesday, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government decided to postpone the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) examinations for Class 12 students — a review meeting on June 1 will decide subsequent dates. The government also decided to cancel Class 10 board exams — and said results would be determined by an objective criteria developed by the board. The decision comes in the wake of a record number of daily Covid-19 cases across the country — many states and cities have already imposed restrictions; schools in 11 states are closed; health systems are strained; and lives are at stake.
This has been a disruptive year for students — away from their schools and friends, forced to cope with new ways to study online, with their universe restricted to their private rooms and homes. For underprivileged students, the struggle has been even greater — without the same levels of access to digital learning, and somehow studying in settings where the idea of a private room is an unthinkable luxury. And for all those in the crucial classes of 10th and 12th, after studying for months, Wednesday’s decision will come across as demotivating. But there is no choice, and the government has taken the right call. It should also consider cancelling, instead of just postponing, the Class 12 exams and getting all stakeholders — central universities, board officials, school associations, parent and student representatives — to come up with an alternative evaluation structure for the transition to higher educational institutions.
But even as students are being asked to reconfigure their lives — the Class 10 and 12 exams, for good or bad, are often seen as a transformative moment in the life of a young student in India — it is business-as-usual for those who exercise political and religious power. The Kumbh continues in Haridwar, risking hundreds of thousands of lives — even though the gods would well understand if devotees find an alternative way to pray this year. Political rallies continue in
Bengal — and this newspaper found that no social distancing norms are being followed by any party after visiting three distinct public meetings on Tuesday. As students are asked to sacrifice, rightly given the circumstances, for a safer India, perhaps their elders — who claim to speak for the nation and religion — could do the same.