Seven of the 41 students from Tashitse Higher Secondary School who resat for the board exam last month failed. It was unfortunate and unfair for students to bear the fruit of spoiling their educational journey for misconduct committed by someone else. They had to retake exams after their answer scripts were allegedly stolen.
The incident happened in the second week of January 2023. The Bhutan Higher Secondary Education Certificate examination was completed on December 31, 2022. An assessment of all the answer scripts from 84 schools began in January 2023 at Losel Gyatsho Academy in Sarpang. The students re-sat for the examination on January 19, 2023.
Most of the students say their regular academic board exam went well, and they were expecting at least a good result. They claim that had there been no re-exam, they would have passed. This was due to the crime of being forced to take an exam after having forgotten all of the lessons learned. They had to appear for the exam under distress, with no gap between the exams and the next, and without textbooks to refer to.
19 students managed to pass Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and English II papers out of 26 science students. It is good that all 15 commerce students who re-sat for English II could pass.
It is obvious that there is always a risk in re-examination. Students will forget lessons learned in school during the vacation, and they have not prepared properly. They cannot demonstrate well in re-examination and get excellent results.
Both the students and their parents were burdened with stress with the onset of re-examinations. The stress of performance can create pressure for many. Again, failure in exams leads to a loss of confidence for many. There is the possibility that students can blame their failure on re-examination.
However, for 41 students at Tashitse Higher Secondary School, this does not seem to be the case. All most all of them went home happily for vacation. Parents and students with whom the media made contact said they were all happy after the board exam. They expected a good result, but it did not come, and this is due to the re-exam, which both parents and students blame. Even the toppers could just get passed, and with their passing marks, they fear they will not qualify for any tertiary institute.
Life today has become so complex that examinations have come to play an important part in one’s educational career. Who would consider the fate of Tashitse students?