Central Board Of Secondary Education [CBSE] — Complaint against DPS RUBY PARK, KOLKATA, WB, regarding forceful offline classes and examination in current covid crisis

In view of the notice given by the school regarding the reopening of school and offline exams of classes 9 and 11 we are forced to write this complaint.
It is true that the WB government has given permission to schools to reopen from class 9-12 from 12th February, 2021 but the government has also mentioned that the rest is upto the schools on how they will manage the situation. Now we look upto the school authority and expect that they will take a considerate step keeping in mind the serious pandemic situation. But the school has done exactly the opposite. In many other states it has been observed that inspite of taking full precautions a large number of students and teachers have been infected within days of reopening of school. The school may check the data of COVID positive students and teachers after reopening the schools for example Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and so on. The school shouldn’t experiment with the health of the students in this present situation. Conducting exam inside school and taking regular offline classes would only affect the students and expose them to the health risks. Contracting an infection is more probable in closed places with several people even more with those under 18. There are many students who suffer from chronic asthmatic conditions. As we know, COVID-19 is a respiratory disease, so students with the complication will be more prone to this infection. It goes without saying that boards are very important in one’s life, so the school might be reopened with full precautions for conducting practical classes provided that those students who will not give consent are NOT forced to or penalised for not attending classes. There is no meaning of risking the students right in this juncture of their life for petty annual examinations which can be taken via online mode with proper invigilation. So offline exams for classes 9 and11 must be avoided for better cause of students.

DPS Ruby Park, with so many students and so little classrooms (when seen in the backdrop of social distancing seating pattern), has decided to hold offline exams, with subject teachers showing enthusiasm for the same- one going so far as to claim covid was over and the vaccine is publicly available (FALSE, the Government of India begs to differ). They have not taken into consideration the messy process of disposal, the very shady temperature checks which sometimes never reveal a person has covid, asymptomatic patients, and most of all, the students. Each one o[censored]s comes from a different socio-economic background, with aged family members, family members who have comorbidities such as asthma and so on, vehicular access to the school, and so on and so forth. This, all in all, complicates the issue of offline examinations, and thereby poses a huge risk to all involved- students, teachers, admin staff and students family members.

We assume that the DPS authority is well aware of the above stated situations. Inspite of knowing all this the school has issued an inconsiderate and inhuman notice regarding class 11 BT-2 being held offline. Instead of asking for the parents’ consent on whether they want to send their children to school or not, the school has sent a “declaration” to be signed by the parents before sending their children to school. This declaration form states that the school WILL NOT take ANY responsibility if any of the students contract the infection. The school is trying to bring students of class 11 forcefully to school for offline exams but at the same time they are not ready to take ANY responsibility whatsoever. Whereas the schools of other states are seeking the parents’ consent, DPS Ruby Park chose to take an authoritarian and insensitive step for bringing students of class 11 to school for a petty annual exam.

So we request you to reconsider the decision of taking offline exams for class 11 BT2 and change the mode of examination to online.