On Sunday, '#CancelBoardExam2021' was the top trend on Twitter, for the second time in five days. It peaked for the first time on April 6, when the number of new Covid-19 cases hit the one lakh mark, and again on Sunday, when over 1.5 lakh new cases were reported.
Renu, a CBSE student who lives in Chennai, said 40 cases of Covid-19 have been reported in her apartment. "All kids in my apartment go to the same school. Revision and practical exams are being held offline. They will be taking board exams too. The next super spreaders are going to be schoolchildren," she said.
In fact, over one lakh people signed a petition on change.org demanding that the exams be cancelled. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has urged Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal to re-think holding board exams.
"The government should consider taking our revision exams scores as the final ones. Or conduct exams at respective schools. My parents and I feel very unsafe," said AP Pooja, a CBSE Class 12 student from Chennai.
Another student from Chennai, Jeevitha, tweeted: "If students appear for board exams to take precautionary measures and to appear for offline mode of exams, then why aren't (CBSE) meetings carried offline with precautionary measures! If your lives matter, Don't our lives matter? #cancelboardexam2021 (sic)."
However, the opinion is not uniform. Some students say they are prepared for the exams, and cancelling them would complicate applying for higher education. "We are ready. Cancelling exams will affect our mental health as all our preparation will go in vain. The government can mandate RT-PCR tests for those living in containment zones for smooth conduct of the exams," said Pranav, a student.
The State government on February 25 announced that students in Classes 9, 10 and 11 would be promoted without exams for the 2020-21 academic year. In 2019-20, Class 12 students completed most of their public exams before the lockdown was imposed.
