CBSE Class 9 and 11 Exams: Students Willing to Give Offline Examinations, But On This Condition

CBSE class 9 and 11 exams are all set to be conducted offline for students towards the end of February and early March 2021. The Central Board of Secondary Education recently issued an advisory to schools across the country to conduct examinations for students of classes 9 and 11 before March 2021, and then begin the next session in April 2021. A certain section of students and parents do not seem to have taken this decision well.

The main grouse that these students and parents have is that the syllabus has been completed in a hurried manner, and that online classes are not sufficient to learn all the concepts this academic year has to offer. “Our school has released the date sheet of offline exams for grade 9th and 11th from 1st March to 15th March but we are not prepared for them. Why can’t they understand that we have studied 11th online this year? The syllabus and the mode of teaching were totally new to us. Throughout the session, we gave exams online and that too not of 80 marks, how can they ask us to prepare for practicals and exams offline when we still need practice,” said Khushi to Dataquest.

“I am a student of DAV School, Siliguri. In my school, teachers haven’t even completed the syllabus. And they expect us to sit for offline final exams? This isn’t done. In a class, there are almost 50 students. If all the students go to school together then obviously the chances of the spread of the virus will be high. Teachers should keep in mind that the pandemic isn’t over yet completely,” said another student to Dataquest.

What Principals and Teacher Have to Say About CBSE Class 9 and 11 Exams

Principals and teachers of some schools Dataquest spoke to are in favour of offline examinations. “See, we have to learn to live amidst the pandemic. We cannot stay inside or put life on hold like this until we receive the vaccination. It may take a long time. And studies are saying the virus has become very weak. I know of so many students who are going out with friends and attending family functions. They are only facing problems with coming to school because they have gotten so used to online classes,” said a principal from a government school in Delhi.

A majority of the teachers have also started to go to schools both in private and government establishments. “We have also started offline classes. Students are happy too. They are also looking forward to resuming normalcy. For the students who are not attending, our principal is requesting parents to send their children to schools by giving examples of students who are attending regularly. When CBSE board exams for 10 and 12 students can be conducted offline after studying online all year, why not CBSE class 9 and 11 exams?” said a teacher who has been regularly teaching offline to students for the past month.

Students Ready to Give CBSE Class 9 and 11 Exams, But On This Condition

Some students have said to Dataquest that if they are given a revision of the entire year through offline classes for a few months, they will find it easier to give offline examinations. “I am Anshika Singh of class 11. The thing is, the whole year we have studied through online classes which everyone knows is not as efficient as offline classes, and all the exams have also been taken in online mode. So how will we be able to give the most final examinations in offline mode at such short notice? I am not saying that we are not able to give offline exams. We can give exams, but we just need some time, at least 1 or 2 months, for offline revision classes, so that we can prepare accordingly,” said a student to Dataquest.

“If we are going to give offline exams then we need at least 1 month of offline class. Then we will be satisfied and ready for offline examination. Otherwise, we need online exams,” said Ayush Kaushik. In the meanwhile, most schools are already in the process of either conducting offline examinations or have issued date sheets to conduct the examinations soon.