Coronavirus, and the confinement it has imposed upon us, has exacted a grisly toll in lost lives, ravaged health of thousands, and the endless effects of an economy lying inert, from jobless and starving labourers to professionals staring at darkness. Students, too, are victims, and not only those whose imminent entry in the job market is compromised. The acute anxiety about promotions, those lost classroom hours, unfinished syllabi, even lack of study materials has had a telling effect. A limbo, indeed, is not a holiday.
A panel appointed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) has suggested that the new academic session in colleges should be postponed from July to September. The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts entrance exams, including the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) has postponed all its tests.
A section of educationists argues against these postponements, saying that the spread of COVID–19 hasn’t peaked in India yet. “What if we come to know after a few months that the COVID-19...
