Political Gameplay? or Justice?

It is evident from the ongoing mishaps in regards to the final semester exams, how poor the management of the authorities has been. It’s however proved that the fundamental human right of voting is averted from the principles of leadership and trust that every Indian student, as a major chunk of the population, look forward to. The ARROW from the BOW is straight away aiming at the heart as well as the brains of the students while the LOTUS is reserved to be dedicated to the bodies of students consigned to the claws of death, for the sake of just a few numbers on paper. No one is thinking about the sandwiched students in between these clutches.

Isn’t it rightly said, ‘सर सलामत तो पगडी हजार’? (If your head is intact, you can have a thousand turbans. Meaning, in troubled times, save yourself first, everything else is unimportant.) Surely, examination does hold a biblical importance in awarding degrees. But, god forbid, one scores the highest GPA, but has to lose their life in the process, what is the use of that achievement? Also, these half headed so called intellectuals have all the knowledge to bank their opinions, and don’t actually know how the grading system has evolved. It is a long faded system of considering just the final year score to guide you through the further processes. Today, it’s the cumulative marking of a student’s journey right from semester I to the final one that is accounted for their future decisions. So, it’s a holistic preview of the student’s hard work that is going to be looked at. The present condition that has left the student community in the sinking ship is no more in favour of any firm opinion, but is just in proving the superiority of power. The student, who is held back from the output has been crushed mentally to an extent that anything that is coming in the path just feels like another void. There was a tempo when everyone had a will to study for the examinations. But at this point the elastic is stretched so much that it has lost its flexibility. The students are so emotionally drained during the pandemic that it is difficult to start studying for the examination if it is announced at this moment of time. The other reason being, the number of infected people is exponentially rising with the coming sun. Such a massive amount of students, reaching the examination centres and giving the examinations while the devil is out there hunting people to death is just another unmindful act! The timelines for all the processes are already off the track and the uncertainty of the verdict getting passed is worsening the students’ conditions.

One of the solutions put forth was to promote the students other than the final year to the next semester by considering 50–50 scores of the present and the previous semester, which was successfully executed by the central authority. Now, they have already been promoted without “actually” testing their gain of knowledge from the previous semester. And now, looking at the evolved grading system, so can be the solution for the final semester folks as well! In regards with this decision, the final semester students were decided to be awarded their degrees on the basis of their average performance throughout 5/7 semesters. Also, opportunity was given to those willing to improve their scores by giving voluntary examination after the situation subsides to the required conditions. But without the vaccine getting invented, it is going to take a substantial amount of time to curb the rising number of cases. So, does that mean the students should stay hanging by the cliff till then? Or step in the jaws of death to give center-based examinations? Also, have you considered the unwillingness of the parents for sending their wards out for examinations?

Here comes the solution of online mode of examination which is wholeheartedly welcomed. Although, it’s evident from the past experience how the websites designed by our official governing bodies react to the surge in load. There are about more than 8 lakh students appearing for the final semester examination. Even if the exams are planned batchwise for around four to five subjects of the semester, there will be around multiple of 10 thousand students per batch. Does our country have a sturdy IT infrastructure that too during these unprecedented times, where people are working from home? I don’t think so. Also, suppose due to technical issues if anyone fails to submit their answer sheets, what happens to them? Would they be marked absent or declared failed or waitlisted? That too because of the poor infrastructure? These things are bound to happen. Isn’t it going to be a loss anyways for those students?

Even though social distancing is said to be followed at the centres, for offline mode of exam conduction, what are the odds of not catching covid during commute to the centre? Does the governing body take responsibility for the lives of students? Next comes the issue of the students who have gone to their hometowns that include the rural parts of the country where there surely is a problem of network connectivity. If online mode of examination has been endured aren’t these students left in the corner? There are students from the hostel who belong from the J&K province and have gone home. There, internet is just a myth. Aren’t these students being considered a part of the community while opting for the decision? How are they going to cope up if the examinations are declared to be held online? For centre based examination mode, with the travel amenities only permitted to the essential service workers and having no possibilities in the near future of starting them for the common man, how is it possible for the examinations being held till the end of September? Also, the hostelers will have to come back to their hostels and stay there, away from their homes till the exams finish off while their health is at stake. Isn’t it unfair?

The central authority has all the guts to oppose the decision of giving average marks and freeing the students from the long held baggage of mental distress but doesn’t even have a concrete plan to how things are going to be handled in a safe and unbiased manner. When you say the degrees obtained without an examination would hold no importance if the central body denies to reconsider, you are being unethically biased just for the sake of a certain political ego and superiority. This condition is not just restricted to India but the whole globe is facing its effect. So, if the entire world education system decides, it can be considerate with the earlier mentioned solution. And it all boils down to only one thing, whether the candidate has gained knowledge. He/she has studied for around 80% of the semester before the start of lockdown and has given the internal assessments and also are done with the final year online project viva and having submitted the report for the same in the PDF format to the individual college authorities. What more has to be tested? If it’s just one final examination that is getting in the way, passing the students with average marks of the previous semesters with voluntary exams for those wishing to improve the score sounds pretty unbiased from all the ways. The final year students having backlogs are no doubt in a dicey situation as their assessment for the KT subject has to be done. Their number is comparatively less than the total number of students. So rather than struggling with a larger majority, the deciding authorities should focus on what needs to be done with the students with backlogs and going with the profound decision for the majority.

Last things last, every final year student had his/her aspirations about the last days at the college, about the eagerly awaited farewell and bidding final goodbyes, hugging the near and dear ones tight! All these things are already taken away from the folks and it does create a mental void and is saddening in a true sense! This, along with the chaos caused by the negativity by the pandemic is already a lot to handle on a mental level. It would be better for the whole student community who has been left with the uncertainty regarding the examinations to be freed from the distress and trauma so that the future plans can be made efficiently! Half of the time is already wasted, let this not be prolonged or else it is going to be a huge loss for the students anyway!