Grief of a TDC examinee on missing her exams whose entire family is Covid positive

April 25: “Hello everyone, I along with my family have tested positive for Covid-19. Anyone who came in contact with me, and are having symptoms get yourself tested. Stay safe, thank you.” This was the message which a college student of Silchar posted on her Facebook wall on 21 April. By this time, her parents were quite serious and were admitted at ICU in Silchar Medical College & Hospital. They are till now battling the deadly virus. It was then certain that she would not be able to appear in the remaining TDC (CBCS) offline examinations. Out of pain and anguish, this Covid-19 positive college student, Anindita Chatterjee (name changed) expressed her feelings in another social media post on 22 April.

She wrote……

Since I have already informed in my earlier post that I have tested positive for Covid – 19, there are some other issues that are disturbing me. First, I’m stunned by how ignorant our university is regarding their students welfare. After months of online classes, when they decided to take offline exams, students protested against it as the Covid was back with its second wave which turned out to be deadlier than the first. The university paid no heed and went ahead with their decision.

Now, after appearing in the exams, number of students from various institutions are testing positive. What is being done about this? Nothing…. How can they conduct exams in the same room where someone already tested positive? What about the safety of the other students and their family members? Who cares, right? Who will be held responsible if they suffer any major losses? When everyone else is telling us to sit back home, the university is asking to go and sit for exams.

Last year, they conducted online exams, when cases were not even half of what it is this year. Even this year, they conducted online exams for the campus students then what is the fault of the students of affiliated colleges? There is no value of their life?

Also, according to the new protocol published by the university the students who would test positive for Covid and happen to miss their exams, are to appear all the exams they missed after they test negative in offline mode. What kind of inhumane behaviour is this?

While a pandemic is taking lives everyday, you put a person going through this life threatening disease through such mental pressure. Covid is not only about your physical health, my overall condition is not at all good, my parents are admitted in the ICU and all I get to hear is that I have to appear in offline exams after I test negative. Will I be physically and mentally fit to journey to and fro from my home to the college even after I test negative? No one cares.

Finally, to everyone taunting students ‘churi korar liga online exam lage, exam dite gelei Corona hoijaibo naile na’ (you want to appear in online exams for copying and cheating, you are infected with corona only when you sit for exams). Hoyegeche corona (I am being infected now with the deadly virus….). NOW WHAT….