Covid-19 proved as a nightmare. It trampled every sector with education being no exception. More than 1.2 billion children in 186 countries were affected by school closures due to the pandemic. This was the point where there was a paradigm shift from traditional learning to the online system. The impact of the virus was so strong that online education emerged as a ubiquitous part of our education system.  As a result, education transformed dramatically with the idiosyncratic rise of e-learning, through digital platforms instead of physical classrooms.

Putting a pause on online education, let's focus on our student community. Our students misunderstood the purpose of online learning. While online classes were the need of the hour, offline exams remain to be the best medium to prove the mettle. It is pained to see that students on one side are opposing the closure of coaching institutions and on the other side protest to conduct online exams. They are seen screaming on the roads to build pressure for the online exams. They are becoming the online warriors to be more precise, the manufactured machines who don’t have any interest in pragmatic learning. Our educated follow the motto of illiteracy with a greater force than the uneducated. There seems to be the suspension of knowledge seekers. They are engaged in gratuitous activities.

Aristotle proposed three secrets to avoid the critics. Say nothing. Do nothing. Be nothing. This mantra is well followed by our students by demanding the online exams. Their demand and reluctance signal the deceptive practices per se. All they want is armchair learning. They are chasing after the price tags which are associated with every coaching institute. In the race of illiteracy, our literate class seems to be ahead in the race. In fact, the situation is more ironic than ever. The tragedy has further escalated by the fact that the students pursuing the professional courses have joined the fiasco. Fine. We understand the apprehensions. But at the end of the day, they will come out as Ghandijis three monkeys of-course with an additional trait of a sealed mind. “Save our Future” reads the one play card during the offline protests demanding online exams. The words should be replaced by “Make our future dumb”. In the entire commotion, students are undermining an important institution- the institution of the brain. Apply it.

The question is not about the exams. Exams apart, respect the sanctity of being the student.  The student community need to understand that government is well aware of the situation of the infectious rate. The decisions are taken after the deeper assessments. If the situation is feasible for offline exams, respect the decisions. Let’s give hope a chance.

(The author holds a P.G in Mass Communication and Journalism and writes on various issues. He can be reached at ummushaanu@gmail.com)