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With uncertainty over the 2020-2021 academic session of schools in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, former Minister of Human Resources Development Kapil Sibal said Sunday that all students who prevent those in class 12 are promoted or have an internal evaluation mechanism in place to save them from the stress of the exam next year.
The senior congressional leader also suggested that courses can be reduced in both schools and universities and that the teaching time lost in the 2020-21 session due to the pandemic could be recovered in the coming year with additional effort from the communities of teachers and students.
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“Several universities will also have to make a decision on whether or not to delay the academic session and have the autonomy to answer a call and cannot be forced to make a decision,” said Mr. Sibal. PTI In an interview.
The College Scholarship Commission (UGC) has issued guidelines to universities for the new academic session for first-year students to start in September, while for existing students starting in August.
However, he has said that the guidelines are advisory in nature and that universities can define their own plans according to the COVID-19 pandemic that prevails in their areas.
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When asked about the uncertainty looming in the 2020-21 academic session in schools that are closed and that teach online, Mr. Sibal said that in the future there could be two options that can be considered for students schoolchildren who exclude those in class 12.
One way is to promote everyone and take some additional classes when the pandemic ends, as well as ensuring that students complete their course in the next class, Mr. Sibal said.
The other way is that if you are confident that your teachers will do an objective assessment of the student community that most of them could do, then you let them and the school do the internal assessment and promote those in class 11 to They have done well (or to the next class for students from other classes), “he said, saying that this would save students from the stress of the exam.
However, he warned that internal evaluation can generate problems of subjectivity and that objectivity must be guaranteed.
Finally, it is up to the Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) to decide on these issues, he added.
Innovative ways must be found so that students are not punished for what they are not in control of, said Mr. Sibal, who was Minister of Human Resources Development from May 2009 to October 2012 in the UPA-II government .
As Minister of Human Resources Development, Mr. Sibal spearheaded a reform process in the education sector under which it was decided to abolish the CBSE Board compulsory examinations for Class X. However, in 2018, the CBSE returned to compulsory exam for Class 10.
Asked about pending classes 10 and 12 CBSE, as well as other board exams, Rajya Sabha member said: “I think that when it comes to the Class 10 Board exams, there should be a rethink. For the class 12 exams, I think that in light of the pandemic, the university calendar for the year should change and, in that context, we hope that the closure will end and then the exams can be taken. ”
In competitive exams like JEE and NEET, Mr. Sibal said that the current situation of the pandemic has disadvantaged students from the poor and marginalized sectors of society.
Remember that there is a division in this country and it always works against the poor and the marginalized. When you have these competitive exams and this division already exists, it hurts even more the poor and marginalized, ”he said.
The JEE-Mains engineering entrance is scheduled for July 18-23, while the NEET medical entrance exam is scheduled for July 26. The JEE Advanced will take place on August 23.
“It cannot be said if they will be held in July, it is up to the Ministry of Human Resources to decide … But I think they will further reduce the possibilities of those whose possibilities are already minimal in these exams,” he said.
Mr. Sibal also affirmed that the difficulties would be many in the future since social distancing in full schools is almost impossible and the lack of digital connectivity throughout the country would result in online teaching putting the population at a disadvantage. poor and rural.
“We are in a great situation. If this pandemic lasted a year and a half, the student community would feel more distressed … I don’t think the type of social distancing that we are talking about in our school environment is possible, “said the congressional leader.
There is a lack of digital connectivity and therefore it is not possible to educate students through the digital mode, Sibal said.
Digitization will give those privileged schools with connectivity the edge, he said.
In this context, Mr. Sibal said that he had suggested as the then Minister of Human Resources, the introduction of the Aakash tablet, which would be made available to students in educational institutes across the country, with the idea of making it students get to know digitally and provide schools. with fiber optic connectivity to allow access to new sources of knowledge.
“If this concept had been accepted and this government in the last six years had invested in connectivity when it comes to education, today we would not have faced this problem,” said Mr. Sibal.
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