New timetable will be fixed without giving students any cause for anxiety: Minister
Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty told mediapersons here on Friday afternoon that as soon as the detailed Supreme Court order allowing the conduct of the Plus One higher secondary examinations in the State became available, the fresh dates for the exams would be finalised and the timetable published. The new timetable would be fixed without giving students any cause for anxiety.
The government was ready to conduct the examinations by fully adhering to COVID-19 protocols, Mr. Sivankutty said, while outlining the arrangements planned. He welcomed the Supreme Court decision.
Students and parents need not have any apprehensions. Sanitisation of schools and classrooms that had been taken up with public participation prior to the Supreme Court stay would be resumed with the support of local self-governments, people’s representatives, political parties, youth organisations, and others. Question papers were already in schools under police guard.
The Minister said he would meet the Chief Minister to finalise further proceedings, including those related to reopening of schools. There were some schools that had nearly 7,000 students. Hence, the opinion of other departments such as Health and Local Self-government and the State expert committee on COVID-19 would be taken.
Most students and parents, he said, were in favour of conducting the exams. The small majority that was against the exams should refrain from campaigns against the examinations as it would cause difficulty for the others. He pointed out that Kerala had succesfully conducted examinations during the pandemic, and there were clear advantages to be gained from it. Students in a neighbouring State had been promoted but awarded no marks. Such students could not apply for Plus One admission in Kerala. Students in the State would not face a similar situation as the State government had conducted examinations and published the results. They could apply for higher studies anywhere in the world on the strength of their marks.
The Plus One higher examinations were to be held from September 6 to 27, but the Supreme Court had stayed the examinations on September 3.
The State government had some days ago submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court pointing out that lack of digital equipment and connectivity issues made conduct of the examinations in online mode difficult. Plus One marks were added to Plus Two marks to determine eligibility for higher education, and hence a proper school-based evaluation was imperative.
Plus Two classes held up
The delay in conducting the Plus One examinations is affecting the students too. No classes have been telecast for Plus Two students for the past two months on the KITE Victers channel on account of revision classes and live phone-in programmes ahead of the Plus One exams. Concerns are being raised that the students’ preparations for the year-end Plus Two examinations would be drastically affected by the delay.
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