The students of Class 10 and 12 expressed deep anger against the evaluation formula announced by the Assam Boards on Thursday. The students and parents are utterly dissatisfied with the decision of the government and also opposed the statement of Education Minister Ranuj Pegu which he said yesterday that the marksheets of this evaluation formula will not help the students to get a government job.
Reacting to this a student of Class 10 said, "The evaluation formula is completely irrelevant. I am not satisfied with the formula as it won't help us in future. After so much hard work that we have done to appear in the exam, it went in vain. We will definitely get an admission in a college but that is not enough. If we don't have any future, if this evaluation formula doesn't help in getting a job in future what is the point of such an evaluation. This needs to be revised."
"Moreover, the Education Minister said that if any students want to appear in exam for betterment or if he/she is not satisfied with the marks they can claim to conduct the exam but how is it possible to appear in an exam after six months or next year after we will start preparing for HS. Once we start our HS course, how will we concentrate on appearing for HSLC examination?," the student said.
She further stated the board's decision 40 percent marks that will come from Class 9 is also not effective as the HSLC exam is completely based on the Class 10 course and therefore adding Class 9 scores are not justifiable. Instead, the board could have added the marks of the pre-board exam conducted in 19 districts in Assam, then it would have been effective, she added.
The parents are also dissatisfied with the decision of the government saying that the government has taken a very wrong decision and this needs to be revised. "The expert committee's report is completely baseless and that Class 9 marks shouldn't have been taken as the HSLC exam is completely based on Class 10 course. They are harassing the students. The students have prepared for the exam for long and now if they won't be beneficial for the students what is the use of this evaluation," said a parent.
Moreover, the schools are also disappointed with the government's decision. "The evaluation formulas of the Assam Boards are not satisfactory and they are not even convinced with the formula for which they said that the marksheet that the students will get will be applicable for getting a job in future. If they would have been convinced, they would have satisfied with the formulas announced yesterday," said Dr. Narayan Sarmah, Secretary of Assam Jatiya Bidyalay Education Council (AJBEC).
Secondly, the Assam government knows that there is no alternative than conducting the examination for the justice of the students and they have proved themselves and this is because even after announcing an evaluation formula, the government said that they will conduct an examination after the COVID situation improves. "The Assam government accepted the fact that examination is the only way to set the future of the students and that the marksheet is only to get promoted and nothing else," Dr. Sarmah said.
"There will not be a single student who would say that they want the marksheet only for promotion. Everyone wants a systematic exam procedure for the betterment of their future. More than 3 lakh students out of 4 lakhs will claim to conduct the examination," he added.
He also raised the question that how will the students prepare themselves to appear for the examination after six months or 1 year when they would be preparing for another course. "We cannot even say whether the COVID situation in Assam would improve after six months as it has already been predicted that the third wave of the pandemic would start from October-November. How can be the government so sure that they will be able to conduct the examination after six months or in next year," Dr. Sarmah stated.
He also urged the Assam government and both SEBA and AHSEC that they should re-evaluate the process and come out with a valid formula so that it doesn't ruin the students lives. The entire evaluation formula should be revised and government should take such a decision which would be effective for the students.
