MIXED REACTIONS AMONG PUPILS

While some students have welcomed the news of giving more importance to internal assessments, others feel it makes things more stressful.

Nandini Bhattacharya, a Year 10 student of Jumeirah College, said: “Our school is softly preparing us. At the moment, I do not feel any burden. As students, we do realise that this year is uncertain in many ways and this may trickle into the next year as well. So, taking our coursework and internal assessments seriously is actually in our own interest.”

An IB curriculum student, Shreya Bahadur, said: “Last year, many students did not get the spots at their desired universities simply because exams were cancelled and everything was suddenly based on the internals and predicted grades. I feel stressed thinking about that. Therefore, I feel even if the year-round assessment does put some extra pressure on us, yet it’s far better than being in a fix later.” Reflecting on the challenges, Malaysian student Aiman Talib added: “We’ve been asked to focus on IAs (Individual Assessments). Stress is certainly piling up as we are making early applications into universities based on our predicted grades as well. This means every component of our school work, right from the beginning matters. We have to take our mock exams seriously as historical performances in schools are increasingly becoming important, due to the unpredictable situation caused by Covid-19.”