New Delhi: Indian education system has been in a state of flux post the pandemic. Parents, students and teachers are perpetually confused about rules and regulations, what’s in, what’s not and the way forward.
The latest in the confusion is the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) giving a choice to students to appear for the semester 1 exam sitting at home or in school. Examinees, parents and schools are in a dilemma.
The council has said in a circular to schools: “It may be noted that candidates can take these examinations either from School, or from Home. While the preference would be to take the examination from the school, with the parent’s consent being mandatory, the examination could also be taken from the candidates’ home.”
The word ‘preference’ has added to the confusion. The semester 1 exams for ICSE (Class X) and ISC (Class XII) will begin on November 15.
“We have given the choice to parents and they have to decide whichever they are comfortable with,” said Gerry Arathoon, chief executive & secretary of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE).
When the CISCE had announced it would conduct two exams, one at the end of each semester, it had said the semester 1 exam would be a multiple choice-based online one, The Telegraph reported, adding that a choice of location would mean two settings for one exam.
In the circular sent late on Tuesday, the council has asked heads of schools to inform them of each candidate’s choice of school or home and what device they will take the exam on — laptop, desktop, tablet or smartphone by October 18.
“The selected device should have a camera and microphone,” the circular said.
The council has also asked heads to nominate teachers from their schools as proctors, buffer proctors and IT support executives. The ratio of proctors to candidates is 1:25, the council said.
The challenge before schools is how will they provide devices if a large number of students want to appear from school?
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