First riots, then COVID-19: Board exams 'test of patience' for class 10, 12 students in N-E Delhi

With all lessons revised and new stationary bought, 14-year-old Ravi Kumar was ready to spend a relaxed evening before his class 10 board exam the next day when the news of communal violence in northeast Delhi broke, ultimately leading to postponement of the exam by CBSE in affected areas.

But, for the students in northeast Delhi, the wait for the exams has become an "test of patience" with it being postponed again, this time due to the coronavirus outbreak, and no clarity emerging yet on when the exams will be held.

Rani Kumari says that while trying to concentrate on studies amid the fear of knock on doors during the communal violence over the amended citizenship law that brought northeast Delhi to a standstill, she was confident that "this too shall pass".

"It has become an endless wait and now I don't feel like studying too. Earlier I thought that this too shall pass. How much can one study the same thing over and over again? May be I will begin revision when the date sheet is announced," said the class 12 student from Maujpur who wants to join nursing school.

Kumar, a resident of Chandbagh, told PTI, "Right from childhood, we are taught that board exams are too crucial and have to be focussed at least two years in advance. It all seems immaterial now, the entire enthusiasm is gone. Bigger than board exams now is this exam of patience."
Gagandeep Singh, who lives in Gokalpuri area, said, "I think I will remember how disturbed I was during my class 10 exams all my life. The stress of exams and scoring well seems immaterial now, when we are facing riots and global pandemic."