KATHMANDU: Most students agree that exams are always a stressful situation — writing everything you learnt in a year in just three to four hours is definitely a challenging task whether one has prepared well for it or not.

Add the fear of natural disasters like the recent earthquake to it, and the level of stress elevates. The level of tension, therefore, is definitely high for our higher secondary students — after experiencing the the powerful April 25 quake along with its aftershocks that have caused loss of lives and properties, they are sitting for their board examinations. The Class XII examination began from June 5 except in seven districts badly affected by the quake — Gorkha, Dhading, Nuwakot, Kavre, Sindhupalchowk, Rasuwa and Ramechhap.

The students of the remaining districts, especially of the Capital that was also hit hard by the quake, nonetheless have managed to reach their exam centres. Despite the nervousness due to exam pressure and also due to the quake, they are sitting quite bravely in the exam centres, and writing for their future.

The green light

As many buildings were damaged by the April 25 tremblor and its aftershocks killing thousands of people, many students feared the condition of their exam centres too. What if the buildings were vulnerable? This question pestered many including Arbicha Khatiwada.

The Class XII student of Sainik Awasiya Mahavidyalaya, Bhaktapur had her exam centre at Khwopa College, Bhaktapur. Khatiwada was “nervous in the beginning” as she was unaware of the condition of the college buildings. She went to her exam centre and saw that the boys hostel of Khwopa Higher Secondary School had been given a red sticker — meaning dangerous.

Fortunately, she saw the green sticker on the building “that had our exam centre” and due to this Khatiwada “felt safe”. But that did not comfort her completely and she went up to the second floor to check “if the building had developed cracks. Thankfully I did not see anything damaged”.

The anxiety of these students was lessened by the counselling from the exam centres too. Khatiwada’s classmate Kishor Subedi reveals, “On the first day of the exam, there was orientation by teachers for a few minutes. They told us that the building we are in is safe and in case of a strong earthquake, they are ready to take safety measures and that they are with us.” This boosted Subedi’s morale and made him feel at ease.

And rather than leaving students on their own, the teachers of respective colleges had accompanied their students to the exam centres on the first day.

One of the teachers of Pramin Joshi, Class XII student at Himalayan Whitehouse International College, Tinkune had joined Joshi to his exam centre at the Capital College and Research Center, Koteshwor. “He checked the condition of the building before we sat for the exam so as to ensure that it is safe,” says Joshi.

Putting students at ease

Even if a building is safe and strong, not all students feel safe in the tall structures post-earthquake. And the situation worsens if you are expected to sit on some fourth or fifth floor and take your exams.

Thankfully, these students need not face that fear. Joshi, who often thinks what if a strong quake strikes again, asserts that he was somewhat relaxed as “we were made to sit for exams only on the ground and first floors of the building”.

Like Joshi, the 329 examinees at Shiva Puri Higher Secondary School, Maharajgunj were quite concerned on the first day. But the school’s Principal Dibakar Durdarshi claims to have eased their nervousness “by using just the ground and the first floors as exam halls. We also gave them orientation on which stairs to use if a powerful earthquake hits again and how to reach the safest area around the school premises”.

And the not-so-tall building of Don Bosco School, Lubhu put Puja Silwal, studying in Class XII at MOLIHSS College, Kumaripati, at ease.

“The school building is not so tall. Rather it looks like a small village with lots of open space. Because of this, I am confident to sit for my exams.”

However, not all colleges have enough space to accommodate students on the ground and first floors only. So, the other way to keep the students safe and comfortable was the use of tents — the students are taking exams under the tent at Prime College, Nayabazar. As per the college principal Naresh Shrestha, he managed the tents with the help of Nepal Army and they are “conducting exams in the open space under the tents and also on the ground and first floors with the capacity for 400 examinees at a time”.

Moving on amidst oddsIt is true that our students are taking exams against all odds but they seem quite confident about their results, like Subedi.

“I have already taken exams of two subjects and the questions were easier than I had expected. Probably it is due to the earthquake. I need to sit for three more exams but I am confident about my results.”

Moreover, these students are positive with the way the examinations are being held on time. Though they are forced to sit for exams without college uniform or much preparation, they think timely exams are beneficial to the students in the end.

Khatiwada explains, “I have not lost anything in this earthquake but there are friends who lost all their belongings. It’s true that it’s difficult for them to appear for an exam. However, taking exam in such a condition is beneficial to us ultimately — we won’t lose a year if the examination is held on time”.

To this Durdarshi adds, “It is true that our students are sitting for their boards in a special condition. But conducting exams on time is a must — if the +2 exams are not conducted on time, the engineering colleges or TU would not wait for the intake of students. So, these exams will prevent students from losing their one year.”