Mumbai: 50 per cent students not confident of doing well in board exams

Students are stressed about things like completing the paper on time. Representation pic

After an entire academic year of online learning, 50.2 per cent SSC students are not confident about appearing for the board exams, a survey has found. In fact, 68 per cent believe that since learning was online, exams should also be held online while 80 per cent feel that internal assessments should have at least 50 per cent weightage.

Worryingly, 72 per cent students said they are stressed and feel the need for guidance and counselling. In addition, 80 per cent are not aware of the counselling facility provided by the state board. The findings were reported in a survey conducted by a teacher from Kurla.

The surveyed children have not attended school for even one day amid the pandemic. Representation pic

The online survey gathered responses from over 1,050 SSC and HSC students from over 100 schools across Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai. These are the only cities in the state where schools haven't reopened yet. The survey suggested that 31.8 per cent students are struggling with stress, fear of lagging behind and losing out on a stream of their choice in college, loss of confidence and family troubles amid the pandemic.

Jaywant Kulkarni, English teacher from Kurla's Gandhi Balmandir school, who conducted the survey, said that the objective is to make the government understand how stressed students are and to give them some relaxation. "Children from these three cities haven't been to school for even a day. Expecting them to appear for a board exam in the traditional pattern is like harassment. It's also important to note that for many students, online learning did not exist due to several difficulties," said Kulkarni, who has also been working as a state board counsellor for SSC and HSC students for 11 years. His daughter, too, is appearing for SSC exams this year so he understands the perspective of both, teachers and students, he says.

Jaywant Kulkarni

Forty-seven per cent students also felt that the postponement of exams to April-May is not enough and only 10.6 per cent students found online learning effective. In addition, 65.1 per cent students also fear that they won't be able to complete the paper due to lack of practice. Another 51.2 per cent are still confused about changes in the curriculum this year, where 25 per cent of the syllabus was reduced.

31.8 per cent
Students struggling with fear of lagging behind, missing out on preferred streams, among other things