Waiting for exams

Lakhs of young people across Assam have been waiting anxiously to take the High School Leaving Certificate (Class X) examination and the Higher Secondary School Leaving Certificate (Class XII) examination which was postponed due to the second wave of the Covid pandemic. It is a fact that the Government of Assam had failed to make a proper assessment of the situation, especially in the backdrop of the 2021 state Assembly elections, because of which several young students have been unnecessarily suffering for no fault of theirs. Both these examinations could have been easily held in February before the election process had begun. The Bihar Board had done it, and there was no reason why the Assam Board and Council could not have done so. As of now, it has been seen that the government has not been able to make any firm decision so far. One must accept the fact that there is no point asking the young students to sit through all the papers of all the subjects for clearing the delayed examinations. Instead, the government should decide the effect that the candidates will have to take only the core subjects. It is good to see that the new Education Minister, being a learned person with long experience of public life, has opened a direct feedback mechanism through which he has been getting the pulse of the people. What he could also probably do is spend a session of one or two hours directly interacting with the HSLC and HSSLC examination candidates through social media or a webinar, so that the anxiety of lakhs of young students can be reduced to a certain level. There is no denying the fact that Class X and Class XII final examinations are the most crucial examinations of one's life and career. As such, it is the responsibility of the government to give topmost priority to allay the fears and anxiety that have seriously affected the young students.