Assam teachers’ association seeks change in question paper pattern

It also urges govt. to provide android phones to poor students

July 27, 2020 12:05 am | Updated 12:05 am IST - GUWAHATI

A teachers’ association in Assam has advised the State government to change the pattern of Class 11 and 12 board exams as the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the 2020-21 academic year.

The All Assam Higher Secondary Teachers and Employees’ Association (AAHSTEA) has also suggested providing free android mobile phones and suitable data packs to poor students who have been missing out on their online classes.

According to the AAHSTEA, half of some 4 lakh Class 11 and 12 students in Assam have not been able to attend online classes for the lack of android mobile phones.

“School and junior college teachers are posting notes and videos of their classes on WhatsApp, Facebook and other social media outlets. It is beyond the means of thousands of students to access them,” the association’s president Himadri Jyoti Dutta said.

“Many areas of Assam have network issues. Even if some rural parents can afford android phones, they cannot connect because of poor or no internet services,” he added.

Syed Anisur Rahman, the association’s general secretary, said the government should consider providing second-hand or refurbished android phones if it was low on resources. Free data packs and periodic recharging could be factored in as some kind of scholarship, he felt.

‘Not the solution’

The association also said reduction of syllabus, as proposed by the government, would not solve the problem students have been facing in the current academic session.

“The Education Department should rather tweak the pattern of question papers for the board exams. Among the changes, we have suggested increasing the number of one-mark questions and greater marks for multiple-choice questions,” Mr. Rahman said.

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