Around 29,408 intermediate second-year students in Telangana have signed an online petition to cancel the proposed first-year exams from October 25 to November 2. The Telangana Parents Association (TPA) conducted a Round Table Conference at Hyderabad on October 8, where students, lecturer and parent representatives all gathered to pass a resolution to demand the cancellation of the exam in light of the fact that the students were already promoted from first to the second year, and there was no need now to conduct the exam.
The petition was started by Varun Rao who in an appeal to the Telangana Government said, "The Telangana government is letting a piece of paper decide the health and well-being of more than 4 lakhs students and their families. If the government decides to conduct the offline inter first year exams they should take complete responsibility for the health of each and every student including their families."
Nagati Narayana, President, TPA, told Edexlive that they are planning on speaking with the Education Minister of the state, Sabita Indira Reddy in order to convey their demands. "We will take the legal route if required," he warned.
The parents allege that students have been put under undue stress because of the looming exams. "They are studying the second year syllabus in the morning, and preparing for the first year exams at night," a parent claimed. The TPA claims that the Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) officials have told them that the exams will be "easy" and that most students are bound to pass, and that the exams needed to be conducted for the purpose of recording the marks. The TPA claims that the BIE insists on conducting the exam just to utilise the Rs 64 crore it will collect from lakhs of intermediate students across the state. "We urge the authorities to channel these resources in the direction of development of infrastructure, and other educational facilities in the government colleges. "Thousands of lecturer posts have been lying vacant for years now in government junior colleges. If these exams happen, the first-year students in government college will again be left without any classes because teachers will be caught up with these exams. Internal marks should qualify for first-year marks in light of the issues brought about by the pandemic," says Ramakrishna Goud, State Convenor, TS Intermediate Vidya Parirakshana Samithi.
The reality of students who missed out on education in the last 18 months because they did not have access to online education is a very real concern, said parents at the meet. Then there's also the fact that the residential colleges still haven't reopened in the state. "The students from these government residential colleges hail from some of the most downtrodden strata of the society. Expecting them to attend the exam is simply impractical," says Narayana. "There could well be a repeat of 2019 where almost 27 students committed suicide after the intermediate results were announced," warns Ramakrishna. A parent at the meet claimed that the exams will land a huge dent in the confidence of the students.
