Over 8,000 parents have written to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan urging him to direct the CBSE to provide the option of hybrid board exams. Parents are concerned about the new Covid-19 variant and want the option of both online and offline exams for the ongoing boards.
“It is pertinent to note that COVID strain Omicron has sent a panic wave across the country, especially for parents and young students. Government of India, the WHO and various other competent authorities have issued advisories understanding the serious gravity of the situation,” the joint letter said.
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Highlighting the concerns of the over Omicron variant of coronavirus, parents said that conducting offline exams under these conditions can invite medical catastrophe, the letter said. It added that conducting complete offline exams can prove to be risky to lakhs of students across the country.
“Students are not vaccinated yet, and about 3 per cent to 4 per cent of them are being tested positive for the virus despite getting vaccinated. It is estimated that the Covid-19 virus is going to spread even more because of the festive season and the exams scheduled right after that become a super-spreader event if the same is conducted only in offline mode,” it said.
The letter also said that since the entire mode of education was online, it would be fair if their examination are also online. “As per your existing policy, students were supposed to come only when parents gave their consent, keeping their health or life in mind. It is beyond reason and tends to become arbitrary when this policy is not extended to examinations as well when the very objective of fair examination is to facilitate the fair assessment of student concerned.”
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“Right to life or health shall be the priority while evaluating students of the CBSE. Lack of choice and undue advantage is also putting a lot of students under pressure. It is common knowledge that some states are still under red zone and hence, offline examination across India would only lead to violation of the extant Covid protocols,” the letter said.
Earlier, a group of students had approached the Supreme Court demanding the option of both online and offline board exams or a hybrid mode of exams. After hearing both sides, the bench said, “this 11th-hour practice isn’t right”. Noting that the notification asking for offline exams was released in October and the hearing is happening in November the Bench said, “at this belated stage, the writ petition cannot be entertained. We hope that all the precautions will be taken. This writ petition is disposed of. ”
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