Shillong, August 27: Conglomerations of NGOs from Garo Hills, Civil Societies and students sent letter to the Chief Minister of Meghalaya Mr Conrad K Sangma to express thier concern for the safety of the students and the potential of covid-19 to turn the whole of Garo Hills and Meghalaya into a containment zone.
The apprehension is very real and any decision on the matter of conducting exams amid the pandemic should not be juberous but decisive keeping in mind the possible and probable dangers to public health of the entire state.
In the letter they have mention that, if an exam is conducted, the government will be involved in a massive health protocol exercise which will be painful to its coffers on the other tackling the problem in a casual manner will be disastrous.
All across India the issue of conducting exams amid the pandemic is causing a wide spread panic and criticisms against the decision to conduct exams is gaining momentum. Maharastra, W. Bengal, Delhi, T. Nadu, Punjab, Odisha are all apprehensive of the UGC’s push to conduct exams , all these states are crying out in chorus to postpone the exams.
It is high time for the Meghalaya Government to listen to the voice of the people. The GOI contends that without the conduct of exams the academic credibility of the students will be compromised as a justification for their decisions.
But even premier educational institutions like the IIT and NLU have decided that conduct of exams at such a time is not worth the life of the students or contribute to the spread of the virus and as such will be evaluating their students based on their past performances.
All the religious institutions, schools are closed and most of the governmental machinery is functioning at half capacity in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus. The congregation of huge number of students for exams will be a veritable recipe for disaster.
Complaints have been pouring from worried parents, students, teachers regarding the conduct of exam. Students are facing a good number of obstacles for this academic session, Students complain that syllabuses are not complete.
Online classes have proved to be a damp squib as many students do not have access to smart products like smart phone, computers and tablets etc. Reports suggest that only just 1/3 of students in India have proper access to internet while for the majority of 2/3 students it is a deprivation because they might not be able to appear for online exams.
Adding to the students’ litany of problems is the quality of data connection or poor network as many students cannot afford different sims to toggle between different networks. Students complain that they do not have enough study material.
Students are facing problems even for online admission in Garo Hills. Many students are not tech savvy and if online exams are conducted without any prior education or online training many students are sure to mess up the online exams.
Offline exams also offer multitudinous problems and the students are in the Catch 22 situation. The problems, Transportation woes, Accommodation problems, Social distancing and seating capacity, Students from NE and containment areas, Spread of the virus, Problems of Teachers, Lecturers and Invigilators.
