Students hail Kerala govt for conducting public exams smoothly amid pandemic

Surya’s mouth was dry, her clammy hands shaking uncontrollably and her heart beating faster as she left for the school on the opening day of SSLC examination last year. She was indeed engulfed by fear and anxiety about the exam and, more importantly, about Covid-19 and the chances of catching it from her friends. But special arrangements made at the centre to fight the coronavirus killed her fears, and Surya was finally relieved she would not have to wait for another academic year to finish her Class X because of the pandemic.

Like Surya, thousands of others had waited with bated breath as the public examinations in the state were deferred owing to the nationwide pandemic-induced lockdown. Opposition protest was mounting as the Kerala Government, which had to put off the SSLC and Plus Two exams indefinitely, later decided to conduct them with proper arrangements against Covid-19 spread. The government, which allowed the Schools to organise the exam, also sent out strict guidelines to be followed within and without the centres.

As examinations were held amid rising cases of Covid-19, schools authorities made sure students, teachers, parents and staff took safety measures such as wearing facial masks and using sanitisers and hand wash properly before and after entering the examination hall. A separate team of teachers and staff was assigned to carry out thermal screening of the students appearing for the exam and instructing them to wash their hands using soaps or sanitizers.

At the order of the education department, arrangements were made at all schools for washing hands. Masks were available at special counters set up at respective school centres for students who were unable to buy masks beforehand. The classrooms were disinfected and special seating arrangements were made for students having infected families. Apart from school vans, KSRTC buses carried students to and from the schools, ensuring that no students missed the examinations for lack of transportation or other reasons.

Overall 13.74 lakh students sat the examinations and even those in quarantine were allowed to take the examination in isolation as the government made all the possible steps to avoid students losing their academic year. Despite conducting the examination in the time of rising cases and opposition protests, there was no confirmation of any Covid-19 positive cases during the full course of the exam.

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