Education department's circular has caught students and parents off guard
The State Directorate of Education has taken the FIFA under-17 World Cup very seriously, and rightly so. Acceding to the request of the steering committee to consider avoiding a clash in the exam schedules and the World Cup games, the department had asked all the schools to reschedule first terminal examination/summative examination before October 7. The matches will be held between October 7 and October 21 at Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Fatorda.
This being an international event, there would be tremendous interest within the student community to watch the matches. To do away with the burden of examinations is a bonus and a welcome move in this soccer-crazy state.
However, the recent circular asking the educational institutions not to hurriedly complete the portion by taking extra periods in view of the under-17 World Cup matches has baffled the minds of students and parents alike.
It is very confusing to understand how the term portion will be completed when you have pre-poned the exams where schools have lost crucial working days. The circular doesn't speak anything about the incomplete portion or ways to cover up lost time. Some schools have quietly gone ahead with extra classes, ignoring the directive.
The circular issued by the Director of Education Gajanan Bhat is flawed considering the fact that on one side it states that the child should not be overburdened while on the other side it states that the portion covered before the day of examination will be part of the examination.
Gajanan appears to have no clue what students go through in preparing for an examination, irrespective of the no-fail policy. How can lessons, including complex maths equations, taught on the eve of exams be part of the paper the next day? You are not allowing any time for students to prepare. On one hand Gajanan is directing teachers not to push for completion of syllabus, while on the other hand you are not giving any time for students to get ready for exams. It's not only the students, but parents too -- the driving force behind their wards, who are in a catch-22 situation. In hindsight, for all the good intentions of Gajanan, this is a horrible mix-up of thoughts in which case students as an afterthought would not mind giving the world cup a miss rather than faring badly.
The director of education needs to put a lot of thought into these nitty-gritties. Gajanan needs to get his officers and headmasters' association on board before taking such decisions. There should be a debate and pros and cons discussed threadbare. It's not about football alone. It's also about academics.
