Seeking cancellation of the Class 12 Board examination, a large number of students staged a demonstration at Master Canteen Square in the Capital City Bhubaneswar on Thursday.
The agitating students, led by the Odisha unit of NSUI, took out a rally from the Master Canteen Square which culminted into a protest in front of the official residence of School and Mass Education Minister, Samir Ranjan Dash.
The members of the Odisha Pradesh Chhatra Congress questioned the decision of the Higher Education department to hold the annual exams when the course is yet to be covered.
The students said the physical classes could not be conducted owing to the Covid-19 situation. Although online classes were held, the entire syllabus could not be covered, the agitating students alleged.
The student further demanded the Council of Higher Secondary Education and the Odisha government to declare the results of Plus 2 Board exam on the basis of the marks scored by them in three quarterly exams.
“Students across Odisha are demanding the cancellation of Plus II Board exams. Our classes were held for only one and half month instead of 12 months which is not fair on the part of the Board. At this juncture, how can the Board conduct the examination” asked a protesting Class 12 student.
“We are not afraid of the examination; we are apprehensive about the course. Classes are not being held for the past two years due to which we couldn’t learn the basics and fundamentals. The Minister and the Education department are playing with the future of the students. We are not saying that we won’t appear exams. What we are demanding is we should be awarded marks based on an analysis of the three quarterly exams we had appeared earlier this session. Those students who are not satisfied with their quarterly examination marks, should be allowed to appear the Board exams,” said a girl student.
Similar protests were also reported from Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak, Nabarangpur and other parts of the State.