With the CBSE already having cancelled the 10th and postponed 12th examinations and CM Naveen Patnaik cancelling the Matric exam of the State Board and postponing the CHSE exams scheduled for May, it is now clear that a whole academic year was blighted and lost for millions of students in the State, thanks to corona.
The Corona broke out in November 2019; kept unleashing its horror till end of 2020 and after a temporary lull, has again struck back with positive case rising faster in the second wave than earlier. Keeping the gravity of the situation in mind, though the State Government had opened physical classes from Class-IX onwards, it again had to call them off from April 19.
Even the 10th and 12th examinations, for which the State Government was gearing up to conduct them, had to be first postponed and then the Matric exam was cancelled.
It’s a great relief that some of the semester examinations of the universities could be conducted.
The online classes have more loopholes than advantages, especially in a State like Odisha where a majority of its population and educational institutions are located in rural areas. These areas have unequal access to internet and electricity. Besides, a big chunk of students doesn’t have a smart phone.
The teachers and students are less acquainted with the online education tools and have failed to keep the synergy between them unlike in the physical classes. So despite grumbling both among the teachers and students, they had to fall back on the online classes as the last option.
“Online classes are no classes; they are a sheer joke for the disadvantageous sections. So, studies have been disrupted for the whole year. Especially, for the lakhs of students living in rural and far flung areas, staying off schools and colleges was a big setback,” said a teacher of a Government school in Dhenkanal district without wanting to be named. He further questioned the modalities to be set for awarding marks to the Matric students and if they could satisfy the students and their guardians.
Besides, he also asked as to how those who get promoted to higher classes would fare in the new classes. “I had just a few days of classes in my college before they were suspended for the second wave of Corona.
I don’t know how I could adapt myself with the courses in the higher classes,” said Sruti, a Class-XI student of a junior college in Bhubaneswar. Teachers too are a harried lot. Whether tech savvy or not, many teachers opined that the physical classes have no alternative. “The charm of taking a class before the students is not there in an online class.
The online class is rather more mechanical and involves disruptions here and there,” said a college teacher. However, he maintained that everybody has to endure it as the system was adopted in view of checking the infections.
“Even after the physical classes were resumed in January in colleges, there were reports of Corona positive cases in some colleges and universities.
So, avoiding the physical classes in the first wave of Corona could avert a lurking danger and save many lives,” he added.