Conveying the sentiments of the hills which reportedly arose in the aftermath of the alleged impugned notification of the Directorate of Education (S) concerning the Class I to IX examination schedule, the All Tribal Students' Union Manipur (ATSUM) has apprised the Director, Education(S) to considered the notification and retained the Class I to IX examination schedules as normally followed in the previous academic sessions.
It may be recalled that on November 8, the Directorate of Education (S) issued a notification and scheduled the examination for Class I to IX from February 1 to 15, 2023.
It also scheduled the examination for HSLCE from March 15, 2023, onwards, while the Class XI promotion examination and the Higher Secondary Examination from the last week of February 2023 onwards for all state government/state government aided/private unaided schools in the state (other than those managed by the Central government like the JNVs, KVs, Sainik School and those schools affiliated to the CBSE/ICSE).
In connection with the notification, ATSUM apprised the Director of Education(S) through its representation submitted on Tuesday, to consider the sentiments of hills and retain the Class I to IX examination schedules as normally followed in the previous academic sessions.
The student body stated that the change in examination schedule is causing unrest in the management of the schools in the hills as the academic calendar/activities of one academic session are normally planned at the onset of a session and executed accordingly throughout a session.
It also stated that the schools in the hills had already fixed their examinations schedule for the current academic session (2022-2023) as planned, and the students are taught with extra classes to cover up the deficits caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As such, an immediate change in the examination schedule by extending the academic period for another three or four months is likely to cause an extra burden to the management, parents, and psychological pressure on the students, it added.
ATSUM further stated that it is also important to note that most of the important events of the hills like religious, social, traditional, and cultural events and activities in the form of Christmas and New Year celebrations, send-off and marriage ceremonies, dedicated stone erections, church events, etc. normally takes place in the months from December to February and the change in examination schedule as notified by the Education (S) Department tends to disrupt the religious, cultural and societal order of the hills districts.
Therefore, while appreciating the initiatives of the Education (S) Department to facilitate quality education in the state by compensating for the learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ATSUM, while considering the plights of the school's management, parents and students of the hills, plead to retain the Class I to IX examination schedules as normally followed in the previous academic sessions, it added.
