Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal, in his live interaction with Kendriya Vidyalaya students across the country, said that the students need not worry about travelling to the exam centres and should just carry on studying. He added that the Kendriya Vidyalayas will be opened in a phased manner, one class at a time and India will go into a hybrid mode — half offline, half online. Students have been asking the minister to cancel or postpone the exams saying they dont feel it's safe to go out yet.
Pokhriyal went live to speak to the students of Kendriya Vidyalayas across the country on January 18. This time he did not go live from his office but from Kendriya Vidyalaya Andrews Ganj in Delhi where he inaugurated an open-air gymnasium and planted saplings on campus. "We have been able to successfully conduct NEET 2020, so the students need not worry about the exams or going to the centres and must appear for their papers without any tension. There's enough time for you to sit for the exams. By that time the situation will probably normalise. Parents will always be worried about you. But I want to tell them that they need not worry about anything but whether their children are following the proper guidelines and studying properly," he said.
"Both online and offline classes will be conducted as 50 per cent of the students will be allowed to attend the classes physically in the classroom while the rest of the students will attend online classes," Pokhriyal said. "Don't think that you won't be strong enough. You have to make a strong resolve and go ahead with it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi too started the Fit India movement for physical fitness," he added while talking about mental health.
He reiterated that the NEET and JEE will not ask questions from the parts omitted from the syllabus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The students will only have to study the revised syllabus for their CBSE board exams and other exams based upon CBSE board syllabus 2021 such as JEE 2021 and NEET. The questions will only be asked from that portion," he added.
Commissioner of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Nidhi Pandey said, "Teachers have been with you throughout the year adopting and adapting to the new changes." While addressing the challenges during COVID-19 pandemic she said, "COVID-19 taught us the meaning of hygiene in our lives and how important it is to maintain cleanliness. Whenever there is a difficult situation, we all come together to solve it."
Pokhriyal also said that each individual had to deal with the COVID-19 situation by protecting themselves, their families and neighbours. He lauded teachers and students who are facing the COVID-19 crisis with grit and determination and converted "challenges into opportunities". He also explained about the inclusion of the mother tongue in the curriculum and vocation education along with an internship at the school level.
