All SEE students were scheduled to be taking the Secondary Education Examination (SEE) from May 27, before the current wave of COVID-19 disrupted that schedule. The examination has been postponed until further notice by the National Examination Board (NEB). Experts have said that the uncertainty with exams, along with the COVID 19 situation has had a detrimental psychological impact on students preparing for the exams.
SEE Students are worried about both, when their exams will be scheduled, and about the COVID wave. Elisha Shrestha of Radheradhe in Madhyapur, Thimi, Municipality-4 says that Covid 19 has been more concerning than the SEE. She has been attending regular online classes and preparing for the exam but is now worried about when and how the exam will be conducted. Elisha has also been affected psychologically after her local friend was diagnosed positive with COVID-19.
“At this time, many students, school principals, and teachers who were preparing for the exam have also been diagnosed with COVID-19” according to PABSON Bhaktapur Chairperson Chandra Adhikari. About 92 teachers and staff members affiliated with PABSON have been diagnosed positive in Bhaktapur.
Minister for Education, Science and Technology Krishna Gopal Shrestha says that with the current situation, it might not be possible for students to attend the examination physically – as the health and safety of the students should be given utmost priority. He states that a decision will be taken this month regarding the SEE and 12th grade exams considering the public health situation. Parents are of the opinion that due to the positive diagnosis of several students preparing for the SEE exams this year with COVID 19 – several of these students might not be able to participate in online exams as well. Several students have had to take online classes from their mobile phones. Many of these students lack access to the internet, computers, and laptops. They cannot take online exam from their mobile devices. Therefore, parents opine that the online exam will be ineffective.
Keshav Puri, chairperson of the Parents’ Association of Nepal, said that it was wrong to emphasize on examination-oriented education. He is of the opinion that the internal evaluation method of the school should be followed this year, as was last year. He questioned over why the government believes in internal examinations up to ninth grade conducted by the school, but why it does not believe in similar evaluation of the tenth grade. He said that a different modality can be adopted for Grade-12 examinations as some students leave the country for further education. Puri further said, “Many students have been infected this year. This trend is on the rise, and not all students across the country have access to online exams, with a reliable connection.” He stated that schools should be handed over the responsibility for this year as well.
PABSON Central Vice-Chairperson Deepika Thapa Rimal said that COVID-19 has caused a lot of panic among students preparing for the exams. She stated that improvements were necessary in the grading modality, if the schools were to be given responsibilities akin to last year. She said that PABSON was of the view that the assessment should not be hasty and that a certain structure should be followed.
She stated that the decision of SEE modality should not be delayed, as to make sure that there is enough time for a standardized improved modality. A task force formed by the National Examination Board on April 10th, under the coordination of the Director-General of the Centre for Education and Human Resource Development, Baikuntha Aryal, to examine over the appropriate modality on conducting SEE and Class 12 examinations, will submit its report to the board today. This year, around 517,000 students from across the country are preparing for the SEE. All final details had been decided, from the printing of question papers for the examination, to fixing examination centers – 2,019 examination centers were fixed across the country.