After the Supreme Court refused to consider a plea on the cancellation of the Board Exams today, students, teachers, and other stakeholders had mixed reactions to the decision.
The plea was filed by Advocate Anubha Shrivastava against the different boards and on behalf of 15 states for conducting offline board exams.
Students were concerned about offline board exams because their studies had been conducted online for the past two years and said they had little practice writing subjective answers. Shruti Verma, a class 10th CBSE student from Omkar English School said, "This decision came as a shock to us, at least, they should have realised the stress we are under. To be honest, I was unsure about taking the offline board examinations, it was a toss-up for me, but now that we have until April, I will attempt to catch up on my studies."
Another set of students who were willing to give the offline exams had started their preparation from the start and were hoping the decision would be in their favor. Gaurav Mishra, a student from Kidland English School, Mumbai said, "Actually, I am pleased with the court's decision because I have worked hard all year and offline exams allow us to prove ourselves. As compared to last year, this is our chance to score well."
As the situation has gained normalcy everywhere, so has the case for educational institutes. Principals are welcoming the decision by the Supreme Court and are assuring the boards will take a just decision keeping the children's challenges in mind.
Kavita Nagpal, Principal, Orchids The International School, Masjid Bunder, Mumbai said, "We have time to prepare our children for the formal assessments. In my opinion, students should not worry about the mode of exams and should focus only on their studies. Someday we have to face the reality and come back to prepare students for life and the best place to start it is at school and the best time is now."
Along with the dismay of various activists, advocates who have been battling for this, dissatisfied students are being motivated and encouraged to focus on their studies, remain calm, and take the Board Exam. “I am very disappointed with the verdict. Now, students from states boards like Assam and Maharashtra will suffer the most. The Honorable Supreme Court should have at least listened to the pleas made by the State board students. We are not concerned about the Covid situation that is going on, but our primary concern was regarding the academic years that students have lost due to it, " said Himanshu Borah, Student Activist.
