The Class of 2020 deals with pending exams, uncertain admissions and fear

The school-leaving Class of 2020 is dealing with confusion about interrupted exams, anxiety about college admissions and, of course, fear of a raging virus. Veer Arjun Singh sums up their dilemmas

Hiya Chowdhury’s apartment building in Noida was sealed last week. She constantly checks if more people in the neighbourhood have tested positive while she also obsessively scours the internet for updates from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). She is concerned about her family’s health. But also about a sociology exam that has been hanging fire for the last three months, part of the dreaded “board exams” that were interrupted by the spread of the coronavirus and the subsequent lockdown. “If it hadn’t been drilled into our heads that board exams could make or break your life, this wouldn’t