By Basanta Parajuli
Bharatpur, Oct. 30: Examinations of Grade XI with physical presence of students may be dangerous at a time when coronavirus curve in Chitwan is going up, experts said.
Experts suggested conducting examinations from alternative modes at a time when many schools have published the final examinations schedule with a plan to conduct them in physical presence.
Schools have released the schedule of examinations from the first week of November. Deepak Tiwari, head of District Health Office, suggested schools not taking risk for students' life.
It is not easy to conduct examinations in physical presence and it is hard even to conduct examinations from alternative ways.
Now, more than 100 new cases of infection are recorded every day in the district. And a total of 53 lost their lives because of COVID-19. Out of 4,043 infected cases in the district, around 1,471 are active cases. Chitwan is second risky district from coronavirus after Kathmandu.
Dr. Bhojraj Adhikari, physician at Bharatpur Hospital, said it is not possible to conduct examinations in physical presence at a time when the number of infected patients are increasing day by day.
Maintaining social distance in examinations is laughable because more than 1,000 students are studying in some schools, therefore, sanitizers and masks alone cannot save students, he stated.
Bimal Chhetri, principal of Small Heaven School, said conducting examinations from other method is better than taking examination in physical presence. However, they are compelled to implement the decision of Higher Secondary Schools' Association of Nepal (HISSAN), Chhetri said.
However, a model community school, Narayani Secondary School, has decided not to conduct examinations of students now.
Purna Prasad Dawadi, headmaster of the school, said they are conducting online classes of Grade XII even though students are not appearing Grade XI examinations. The decision to conduct examinations in physical presence may cause negative feeling in students.
In Chitwan, a total of 11,765 students are studying in Grade XII from 36 private and 56 community schools.