Imagine pouring your heart and soul into preparing for an exam, spending sleepless nights revising and memorizing terminology and formulas, only to face utter disappointment through no fault of your own. This is the situation faced by Indian students right now.
Approximately 2.3 million NEET UG exam takers have become victims of a paper leak, and it’s truly devastating to witness it. Moreover, recent reports indicate that similar injustices have befallen class XII students, some of whom received absurdly low marks. When they requested images of their answer sheets, the digital copies they received did not match their own. The newly introduced On-Screen Marking (OSM) method was meant to provide a more efficient correction process and modernize grading of papers.
However, it has led to extreme tension and stress not only for those whose papers were mixed up, but also for students preparing for class XII and class X board exams in the upcoming academic year, as they hear rumours of OSM being implemented for them as well. Students find themselves in a helpless situation despite their hard work and dedication.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan states that investigations are ongoing and the Centre states that the Prime Minister is personally supervising the NEET-UG situation. We’ve also received information that the re- test of NEET UG might be computerized. Is this supposed to give solace to all those who attempted NEET UG and Class XII boards this year? Or the students who are yet to write these important exams?
It really makes us wonder, how many such answer sheets have been misplaced, swapped, miscalculated or carelessly marked? Many of my classmates are overworking themselves, burning out, hoping that their scores won’t be similar to those who gave their boards this year. Does the Education Minister and the cabinet not realise how put down the students across the nation are feeling right now? All of the authorities are working to fix the grade 12 board controversies and the NEET paper leak but how many of them actually care about the lakhs of students they’ve mentally burdened? How many of them are working on the catastrophic shock that has been caused to the students of India?
Moreover, the new changes that CBSE has made for class IX students have not been executed properly. The hard copies of new textbooks took a long time to become accessible to all students across the country, and the change in curriculum has set them back, giving them inadequate time to complete portions and revise for finals.
Up until now, the PM has not addressed the students of India, and there is no news of substantial measures taken to ensure no such disappointments happen in the future. So, on behalf of all the students who have been let down by the Education department, NTA and CBSE, I would like to ask some questions— what have you done to help us? What will you do to fix our current, and rather pathetic, situation to give us hope? Why should the youth of India trust the government if such injustices continue to happen? And what strict measures will be taken to ensure such injustices do not happen?
Sirii Saraswati Gowda is a Grade X student of National Public School (NORTH). Views are personal.
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