MARGAO
Students of Std XII have cried foul over the decision of the higher secondary schools to hold the Board exam offline when they are yet to receive the anti-Covid jab.
Some of the parents are believed to have called up Education Director Bushan Savaikar to find out the position, with reports saying some of the higher secondary schools are in favour of holding the exams online.
Even as the Goa Board has not come out with a clear stand on the matter till late Thursday evening, beleaguered students as well as anxious parents have been trying to approach Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who also holds the Education portfolio, seeking to know how the students, all aged below 18 years of age, can be made to answer the exams offline.
The students have found support from Aam Admi Party leader, Pratima Coutinho, who has taken up cudgels for the students by asking the government to hold the mid-term examinations online.
Beleaguered students contended that they have been given an impression all along that they will have to answer the online examination. To their shock and surprise, the students received a circular from the Higher secondary school on Wednesday, intimating them of the offline examination, beginning from August 23. They cried foul over the sudden decision, questioning the decision when Chief Minister is on record stating that only the colleges would start offline classes from September 1.
“We are all aged below 18 and have not received the anti-Covid jab. In comparison, the government is starting offline classes for the College students on the presumption that they have taken the Covid jab”, remarked a student.
Pratima wondered how the Higher Secondary Schools can have the offline examination for the students below 18 from August 23, when the government plans to open the colleges only from September 23.
She appealed to the chief minister to take understand the plight of the students as well as the parents and elderly relatives at home of these students.
“I urge the chief minister for his immediate intervention in the matter and protect the interest and health of the students. By holding the exams offline, the government is putting the lives of the students and the parents and grandparents at risk”, she added.
