2020- A year of confusion

2020 has been a year of doubts and confusion, and by the looks of it, the same trend might prevail in 2021 as well. As 2020 comes to a close, it is now being discussed whether or not nursery admissions should be allowed in Delhi schools for the year 2021. This has initiated a chain of debates all over the country and people are discussing the pros and cons of canceling the admissions.

It is the Directorate of Education (DoE) that announces the guidelines and schedules for nursery admissions in private schools around this time of the year. However, no formal notice has been sent to the schools thus far. Government officials are arguing that since it is ambiguous when the schools will reopen, there is no point in carrying out the admission process.

While that is a reasonable argument, we also need to consider that if the admissions are indeed canceled, it will cause the children to lag – not to mention the confusion that would prevail.

The benefit of carrying out the admission process, as usual, is that at the very least, the children will have access to formal education, albeit online. Since we’re getting close to having a vaccine on our hands, it is also possible that things might start getting better around June-July of 2021.

If they do, the children will have the option to attend the schools as well.

On the other hand, if the admissions are canceled, the year will go to waste. We should, therefore, consider all possible scenarios and then make a decision that would be in the best interest of our children.

Is postponing CBSE board examinations the right decision?

The Union Education Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has announced recently that the CBSE board exams will not be held during January-February. He agreed that the current situation isn’t conducive for conducting examinations, and therefore, it would be wise to postpone the examinations until things get better. He also assured the teachers, students, and parents that the examinations will not be canceled and cautioned the students against complacency.

What does the board say?

Sayyam Bhardwaj, Controller of Examination of CBSE board, has announced that the exams would be conducted soon and they will be conducted offline.

It has also been announced that the students’ own schools will not be their examination centers.

The board has also announced that no further reduction in the syllabus will take place.

These decisions have been welcomed by educators all over the country. The online mode of conducting the examinations is not effective at the school level. Therefore, offline mode is the only logical option – even if we have to wait for it.

It is also appreciable that the board has firmly stated that the syllabus will not be reduced any further. Teaching the right concepts at the right time is important to properly equip the students for their higher studies. Not doing so could create all sorts of problems for them in the future.

While we wait for the specific dates to be announced, the students should focus on their studies and not get complacent. The schools should also assess the students appearing in the board examinations to make sure that they are studying regularly and not slacking off.

These are highly uncertain times, and no one can be blamed for what is happening. What we can do, however, is that we can maintain a positive attitude and keep our eyes fixed on the future. Doing so will prevent us from getting off-track and help us succeed in life.