Lawmakers of the House of Representatives have demanded that the Secondary Education Examination (SEE) of class 10, which has been postponed due to the COVID-19 fears, should be scrapped altogether.

Addressing a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Health and Education, the lawmakers said that SEE need not be administered in a traditional way as the new education policy has already been enforced.

Gagan Thapa, the MP representing the main opposition Nepali Congress, opined that the ongoing situation is the best opportunity to change the deep rooted traditional concept on exams like SEE. “The COVID-19 pandemic has provided us with an opportunity to change the existing examination system,” said Thapa, adding that such a pattern of examination is not necessary in Nepali context. According to him, the students can be promoted to grade 11 through internal evaluation. He further added that under the “new education policy, only the final exam of grade 12 is the board exam.”

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Also speaking at the meeting, an MP of the ruling Nepal Communist Party, Jiwan Ram Shrestha also said that administration of SEE goes against the spirit of new education policy. “The government should take a policy-level decision and update this according to newer provisions,” he added.  Another lawmaker Bhairav Bahadur Singh, echoing the other MPs, said that the SEE can be conducted similar to that of grade 9 as it is not a board exam like the previously existing School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examination.

Stressing on the fact that cancelling exams only in a year may have a negative impact on the psychology of students and parents, lawmaker Anjana Bishankhe opined that the structure of SEE should be modified with a systematic plan.  The committee has also instructed the government to restrict the schools from operating formal classes and charge fees. At this time of the pandemic, conducting classes and examination, announcing new admissions should not be allowed, the committee said.

source: republica, 7 may 2020

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