The decision was taken after CBSE board cancelled exams for Class XII. This decision has put an end to student’s anxiety in the state.
Chief Minister Sawant in his tweet said “After extensive consultations, it has been decided that the Class 12 exams shall be cancelled, as the health & safety of our students is of utmost priority. This will also help put an end to the anxiety amongst the students, parents and teachers. The results will be declared as per a well-defined objective criteria.”
There is still ambiguity with regards to CM’s statement of ‘Well defined criteria’. Earlier on Wednesday morning while speaking to the press regarding the assessment of HSSC students Sawant said “We have three suggestions in front of us right now. One is to cancel the examination, second is to declare result on internal assessment of marks and allow those to appear for examination, who wants to opt for it and third is to declare both the results (internal assessment and examination) together,”
Digambar Kamat, leader of opposition welcomed this decision of cancellation of HSSC exam and also requested for an academic action plan. In a tweet he said “Welcome the decision of @GovtofGoa to cancel HSSC Exams in view of the Health & Safety of Students. We have always maintained that decisions pertaining to the future & career of Students must be taken with expert advice. I urge @goacm to come out with an Academic Action Plan. @INCGoa”
How will it affect students ?
Retired senior lecturer of Physics in Dempo college of Arts and Science, Sunil Prabhu while speaking to Goa News Hub said “The decision taken by government on HSSC exams will affect Arts and Science students, their admissions for undergraduate (UG) courses will be delayed”
“The psychological impact on the students due to the SSC exams cancellation should also be quantified. From 1st to the 8th standard, students are promoted to the next class irrespective of their marks, and then it is an unwritten rule among teachers to promote a 9th STD student to the next class”.
“Now since Class 10 SSC exams have been cancelled the student will face the real challenge of answering the exam in 11th STD, this may be too much for him to take. Having faced no such challenge in the past he may go into depression if he fails in that exam. Hence, the government should think about this too”
“SSC and HSSC exams are imperative as exam scores tell the teacher how well a student has understood the teachings in class. Moreover, the student also understands his eligibility based on the scores”
“Exams are held in closed rooms with controlled environments where students have to go through a challenge. The purpose of exams is to prepare a student for the life challenges in the future.” Concluded Prabhu.
The delayed HSSC exam results will lead to a shortened timeline for students planning to pursue their undergraduate courses abroad. Therefore delay in the results this year would mean the time bracket between admission confirmation and course commencement will be shorter as many countries give conditional admissions to students which get confirmed once board results are declared.
The impact will be comparatively less for US aspirants since many US colleges have a fairly holistic approach in admissions with a relatively lower stress on just the board results. However for countries like the United Kingdom and Australia, board results are more important .
Even though the government has cancelled SSC & HSSC exams there is still ambiguity about the results and when they will be declared based on which the students’ UG admissions are decided .
