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The Telangana government on Friday, 24 December, announced that all students who failed the first year Intermediate examinations will be given minimum marks and shall be declared as pass.
The announcement comes days after as many as six students took their own lives after their failed the examination. The examination results were declared last week and a 49% pass percentage was recorded, with about 51% of the Intermediate students (2020-21 batch) failing to clear the first-year exams in the state.
The 2020-21 batch students were provisionally promoted to the second year in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the exams were held in October this year.
On Friday, Telangana Education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy said, “The decision has been taken to reduce the stress on students, as they will be appearing for second-year examinations soon. It is unfortunate that the students are blaming the government, neither the Board nor government has committed any mistake.” She added that the goverment is aware of how COVID-19 has affected students and the education field as well.
What Had Happened
After students who failed the exam took their own lives, a state-wide agitation had been launched by students’ groups across Telangana. The Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education (TSBIE)’s decision to not arrange a supplementary exam this year, owing to the tight academic schedule caused by COVID-19, had also enraged the students.
The Board had said that they will only conduct the supplementary exams for those students who failed to clear the exams in April 2022 – which protesting students say is a disastrous decision that could lead to more distress among students, and potentially, suicides.
On December 17, student groups – Students Federation of India and Progressive Democratic Students Union and National Students' Union of India – protested at the TSBIE office in Nampally alleging that the Board failed in conducting evaluation in a fair manner.
The protesting students’ groups had demanded that the government consider the internal assignments submitted by the students and give at least passing marks.
Physical classes could be held only for 23 days and were shifted to online mode, which particularly affected the students studying in government colleges, who come from marginalized socio-economic backgrounds without access to resources like mobile phones, internet connection and computers, which are essential for digital education.
(Published in arrangement with The News Minute)
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