The Formative Assessment 2 (FA 2) examinations conducted by the School Education Department in Andhra Pradesh are being criticised, as the question papers are being sent on WhatsApp to the teachers an hour before the examination.
Teachers shared with The New Indian Express that this method of dispatching question papers to teachers is creating a lot of problems, especially in schools with single teachers. They have to copy down the content on the blackboard within an hour, not just a single question paper but five in the morning and five in the afternoon sessions. "It is getting more difficult especially when the question paper contains picture-based questions," the teachers said. Telugu Nadu Upadhyaya Sangam State President Mannam Srinivas told TNIE that the system is "truly horrendous" as it makes it difficult for both teachers and students. He urged the government to issue physical question papers like before.
The Students Federation of India Bapatla District President P Manoj Kumar alleged that the examination board has been collecting Rs 150 from Class I to V and Rs 200 from Class VI to X, but is not able to conduct the examination with physical question papers which, he said, is a matter of shame for the government.
Andhra Pradesh re-introduced the marks system in schools this year after a decade. TNIE reported that a proposal was submitted by the Director of School Education for awarding marks instead of grades to the government citing that several students have been facing difficulties during admissions as a large number of students are securing similar grades. However, the government will not announce the ranks of students and take stringent action against those schools that do so. The marks system in the SSC examination was replaced with the grading system back in 2011.
