KARACHI:
As a society, we have had to experience numerous changes this year, from simple things like wearing face masks to life-changing practices such as lockdowns and quarantines. However, these restrictions are needed for a society to grow, develop, and eventually prosper during such unprecedented circumstances. So then why is there such a big fuss about a small change in the CIE exam schedule when all we have had is uncertainty and changes this year?
Well, most students believe that this shift in schedule will create chaos since most schools will have to find a way to cram both the next and previous years’ schedule. Secondly, it leaves students with no option of retaking their exams. This accompanied by the fact that students might not be able to retain their syllabus to the degree they had before could negatively impact their grades as a whole. Finally, they feel that there is no guarantee of the exams taking place even in the October/November session due to unpredictable circumstances, which would bring them back to square one.
On the other hand, there are some students who believe that many of the grades from the previous academic year were granted to them unfairly since Cambridge had to shift their grading to that of Student Assessed Grades (SAGs) which completely relied on the school’s opinion of how well their students would have performed if the exams had physically taken place. These students argue that if SAGs were to take place this year, it would be even more unfair as most of the exams would have taken place online — where cheating is rampant.
In such a situation, opting for SAGs should be made optional so that students who think they can achieve desirable grades through this process can follow through while the rest can rely on giving the exam in October/November, just like a normal year of exams.
Abrahim Durrani
Islamabad
Published in The Express Tribune, June 1st, 2021.
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