Exams only after evaluating overall situation: Education Minister
Minister for Education, Science and Technology, Giriraj Mani Pokharel said the government would conduct delayed examinations of Grade 10, 11 and 12 only after evaluating the condition of the country.
Talking to The Rising Nepal, Minister Pokharel said the government was not in a state to fix the examination date now because of uncertain situation of the country. But the Ministry has started holding discussions with concerned authorities after it received report from the National Examinations Board (NEB) about the possibilities of conducting the examinations, he said. The NEB Thursday said it could conduct examinations three weeks after the lockdown was lifted.
The Minister said, “I have asked joint secretaries of the Ministry to give suggestion regarding the report submitted by the NEB. So, only after discussions within the Ministry it will propose to the Cabinet and High Level Committee prior to declaring the date of the examinations.”
He further said the Ministry would not conduct the examination before the Ministry for Health permitted to do so.
Minister Pokharel said the border areas were still at risk, so the examinations could not be conducted before the situation returned to normal.
Some stakeholders are suggesting the government to award certificates to students on the basis of internal evaluation, without conducting the examinations, but the Ministry is not in a mood to give full credit to such a model, Minister said.
A team of NEB led by chairperson, Chandra Mani Poudel, submitted the report to the Ministry on Thursday regarding the possibilities of examinations. The NEB said it could conduct examinations three weeks after the lockdown came to an end and it could publish results in 45 days from the date of examinations conducted. In such a situation, students’ academic year will not be lost if the examinations are held even after a month.
Chairperson Poudel said the NEB was planning to conduct the examinations safely in nearby centers from the schools of the examinees. For the purpose, the NEB has been collecting information about possible centers to make sub-centers for the convenience of the examinees, he added.
In such a situation, more than 80 per cent students will be able to reach the examination centers from their own home, Poudel said.
However, the NED won’t conduct any examination till the current situation returns to normalcy, he said.
Regarding some stakeholders’ demands to distribute certificates to students on the basis of internal assessment, Poudel said there was no alternative to examination for the validity of students’ knowledge. So, he asked the examinees to keep on learning.
source: risingnepaldaily, 3 May 2020
READ ALSO:
High Paying jobs in Nepal; Salary: NPR 60,000 -1,60,000 per month
Posted on: 2020-05-03