Teachers across schools are telling children they will have written in-person exams despite classes being held online and they should take the lessons seriously.
Online classes started this week because of the current heat spell and the state government’s instruction to schools to shut down for a week.
During two years in the pandemic, many students took advantage of online classes and exams and the impact of this is still showing in the form of learning gaps, several principals said.
The principal of a co-ed school said online exams were an “apology for real exams held in school”.
One school told its students not to treat the online classes like “mock lessons”.
A teacher said marks scored in an online examination were not a true reflection of a student’s academic standard.
Several schools are scheduled to have exams or unit tests in June-July after the summer break.
Students are being told that classes from home were only a short-term arrangement and they should not think online exams would follow.
“The students have to take online classes seriously because when they did not, they suffered and even after a year the learning gaps remain. In the past year, we have tried to address the gaps but one year has definitely not been enough,” said Koeli Dey, principal, Sushila Birla Girls’ School.
To make students take the online classes seriously, especially those in senior classes, some schools are telling them that these lessons will not be repeated once they return to campus.
“The moment school is online, a section of students take things lightly. Students have to understand that when they will be back on campus, there will no online exams. They have to be attentive to what is being taught in online classes,” said Rodney Borneo, principal, St Augustine’s Day School Shyamnagar.
During the two years of online classes in the pandemic, students’ handwriting, writing speed and reading ability suffered across sections.
“In an online exam, the school is still not in a position to ensure 100 per cent invigilation. In the absence of that, teachers cannot make a correct assessment of a student’s learning,” said Purnima Chatterjee, principal, MP Birla Foundation Higher Secondary School.
“We have told our students this is a temporary phase and that they should not get used to it,” Chatterjee said.
In some schools, heads said they were hoping to return to physical classes soon but that it seemed unlikely unless the weather improved.
“Unlike earlier, we now have smart boards in classrooms. Teachers can use them to show videos by connecting their pen drive or laptop. In a physical classroom, after the pandemic, it is a combination of using technology plus having the student present in person. Teachers want to return to this as soon as possible,” said Aruna Gomes, principal, Loreto House.