KATHMANDU, April 22: The ongoing teachers’ protest and the state’s inability to effectively address their pressing concerns have undermined, or are at least about to undermine, the final examination of +2 students.
The National Examination Board (NEB) maintains that the grade 12 examination will be held as scheduled. “The board’s serious attention has been drawn to false information suggesting the postponement of the Grade 12 annual examinations scheduled to begin on April 24,” wrote NEB on Friday. If this statement is to be accepted, then the exam should start from April 24, that is, in three days.
However, preparations for the exams have been seriously compromised by the teachers’ protest. There is a wide discrepancy between NEB’s conviction that the exam would be conducted and the availability of human resources required to carry out the examination efficiently. Since most of the teachers are currently in Kathmandu, the provincial and branch offices of the NEB have been unable to pull off the indispensable tasks like appointing exam centre heads, and carrying out orientation sessions.
Annual examination of Grade XII begins across Nepal
“It’s quite unlikely, I would say even impossible, to conduct the exam from April 24,” said Prem Biswokarma, a teacher from Rukum, who is in Kathmandu for teachers’ protest. “In the earliest, the exam will start from May 5, before that it’s quite unlikely.”
A national-level exam requires well-coordinated participation both from the provincial and state-level parties. If the local teachers, who usually are the invigilators at the examination centres, are unavailable, then it’s quite unlikely that the exam can be conducted. Of course, the state can subscribe to other options, like, say, deploying civil servants to compensate for the dearth of human resources due to the teachers’ protest. However, there is no noticeable preparation to be seen in this direction. While the teachers are busy with their protest, the students, on the other hand, are caught in a state of uncertainty.
“I don’t know what might happen,” said Rabish Bista, a +2 student who will be taking the exams. “I’m preparing for the exams, but this uncertainty is affecting my mental health.”
It’s difficult for grade 12 students, who are still in their teenage years, to fully comprehend the progress of their own mental states. It should be acknowledged that there is always an element of disappointment when a much-anticipated event does not happen on the planned day. Of course, the intensity of this disappointment varies from individual to individual. In any case, the level of this emotion can impact a student’s overall performance. Besides, the very uncertainty, like the one surrounding this year’s +2 examination, impacts a student’s determination and consistency in their preparation.
NEB’s reluctance to admit that the teachers’ protest has crippled its ability to conduct the exams from April 24, has created an atmosphere of uncertainty and anxiety among the students as well as the parents. “At the earliest we’re planning to conclude our protest by April 28,” said a teacher from Rukum. “That’s when the government will hold its cabinet meeting. If the meeting addresses most of our concerns, then we’ll end the protest. If this happens and we return immediately, it will at least take us a week to prepare centres for carrying out the exams.”
It is quite unlikely that the exams can begin from April 24. NEB should, as soon as possible, issue a statement that addresses these concerns and updates the students of the changed schedule. Or if it is planning to hold the exam as per the schedule, then the board should provide compelling evidence regarding how it would manage to conduct the exams nationwide while most of the teachers are gathered in the capital.
This detailed statement about whether the examination schedule is altered or not will provide students a rational basis to believe NEB. The present situation, on the other hand, where the board is insisting that the exam will be carried out as scheduled, is impractical, and is, therefore, a gnawing worm that is inducing anxiety and uncertainty among concerned individuals.
