The Class XII examination which was earlier postponed by Council of Higher Secondary Education Manipur (COHSEM) due to COVID-19 pandemic was successfully conducted on Monday and it will continue till Tuesday.
The examination which started on February 14 was cancelled after March 18 in view of COVID-19 pandemic. The examination for seven subjects is yet to be conducted. But out of the seven papers, examinations for three subjects namely Engineering Drawing, Sociology and Thang-Ta were conducted today.
The subjects which fall on the second day are Elective Bengali, Elective English, English Hindi and Elective Manipuri.
Inside the examination hall, the standard operating procedure to prevent the spread of COVID-19 was strictly maintained. Most of the students wore masks and brought their own hand sanitizers. The examination centre also provided them. Physical distancing was also maintained inside the examination hall and within the campus.
However, in some of the examination centres, parents and children failed to maintain social distancing when they came out after the examination.
One of the students told the Imphal Free Press, “I feel so relieved today as my exam is over. I had only one subject i.e. Sociology left to appear when the examination was cancelled. Although it was only one paper, I could not live in complete peace.”
She further said that the examination was conducted by strictly maintaining all precautionary measures to prevent COVID-19 infection. Today’s rescheduled exam gave her a very different kind of experience in her life that will remain forever, she said.
“When I appeared at the exams which were conducted earlier, I came as a student and I felt the experience just as any student would during normal times. But the rescheduled exam held today made me feel that I am not only a student but a responsible citizen. Earlier, we cared only for the compass box, admit card, exam board etc. before coming to the examination centre from home. But today, the first things I kept ready were my mask and hand sanitizer,” she stated.
Other students expressed that it is better to complete the examination as no one knows how long the pandemic will stay. Instead of just keeping everything to a standstill, it is better to learn to live with COVID-19, said another student who came to give his examination.
He also lamented about those students hailing from outside Manipur and could not reach the state to appear at the examination. The authorities concerned should notify earlier about conducting special examinations for them, he added.
It may be mentioned that the government of India granted permission to conduct the pending board examination for class X and XII during the lockdown on May 20.
