Circulars issued by CBSE, despite being thick and heavy, are vague in language. They outline the rules for filing much better than behavior.
A recent CBSE Circular dated 16th September 2021, regarding the rules for submission of candidates for the 22nd long 10th and XII Board examinations. Schools have been influenced by the frenzy of pressuring students to ensure they meet the criteria with many rules about attendance and numbers.
Some schools now want to score from all the exams conducted online, others want to take the last online exam.
At the other end, classes IX and XI are divided into two semesters, with a seemingly relaxed examination scheme. But there is chaos in the execution. Most people are upset about loosening the chains, but for students, it’s a nightmare, and even teachers don’t fully understand what these rules mean.
The CBSE exam saw the same problem with the CCE pattern, which happened in simpler situations. Circulars issued by CBSE, despite being thick and heavy, are vague in language. They outline the rules for filing much better than behavior.
This creates confusion among teachers, students and inevitably parents. Hang in the future balance.
Education, by nature, relates to the future.
So now again people are uncomfortable with digital penetration. Concerned neo-hippies and their global warming, i’ll tell ya.
But students and teachers fall into this crossfire of confusion. Fear spreads among them. The students themselves are not worried about their future, and most teachers are not. They have come to this profession out of love and do not want to ruin the future of the students. But their presence is also taken into consideration as they are in the job line.
Will I lose my job if I mess up filing some test results?
So multiple tests are taken, and attendance is marked with fever, and the student, disguised as ‘no real school’, gets tired before the day begins.
If CBSE spokespersons are trusted, and their ideas about education are further relaxed, they are failing. No one is getting relief in this situation. Teachers and students are in constant anxiety, parents are anxious and the administration, in general, is simply confused.
The notices issued by CBSE, despite being long and frequent, are prone to multiple interpretations. Bureaucratic language shows but does not enlighten, and people are still in the dark about the path of action.
While this is not necessarily a unique issue for CBSE, the institute and its leadership need to do a better job of communicating, perhaps even shifting to a more humane approach and recruiting experienced teachers from the school as observers in their own place. Or through exchanges between schools.
To fill this gap in education, many new coaching centers are being set up which charge a lot of money from their students without any quality education.
In a country like India, inspired by commercial education, any authority on the legitimacy of the subject would need to employ a wide range of people to impart and collect knowledge. CBSE has to hold itself accountable in that case.
Silver Lining is an independent teacher who works for the betterment of students and their understanding of the world. Recently, organizations like Endurance India have begun to capitalize on this, giving teachers the freedom to make their own decisions about their education, ignoring the authorities. But as a country we still have a long way to go.