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Everything is falling apart in the fragile world of students
Exam amidst uncertainties: O/Level student engrossed in his studies
Amindri Sinnathamby had entered her examination centre in Colombo and was diligently writing her three-hour jurisprudence paper for her Bar examination when chaos broke out. She had been writing her paper for one and a half hours, with no knowledge of the disarray the country was plunging into as she had no access to her mobile phone.
Invigilators at the end of the hall had announced that the exam had been cancelled and Amindri sat in shock, along with many others as their papers were grabbed in no specific order.
In Peradeniya, it was the first day of orientation for arts faculty students. Orientation had previously been postponed owing to the crisis in the country. While students were being grouped for the mandatory intensive English course, an islandwide curfew was announced and they were asked to leave. On May 11, students who are not in university hostels were asked to go back home as academic activities had been temporarily stopped.
“This is such a hindrance to our studies and will only lengthen the period we have to study to get our bachelor’s degree,” said Thevni Sendanayake, a first year Arts Faculty student.
Amindri had taken a month’s break from her job to study for her Bar examination.
“It is a really competitive exam and I have to pass it to practice law.”
Students from all over the country come to Colombo to take the exam but many had opted out owing to the fuel scarcity and the difficulty in finding transport.
Nimansa Fernando is a 16-year-old from Colombo, currently sitting for her O/L examination. Seminars for the nine subjects had been organised by her school as final revision for them from April 25 to May 6. However, seminars started on April 26 and were abruptly stopped due to the imposition of curfew on May 9. As a result, only seven seminars were held, while they were given holidays and her last day was May 17. “Even the last few days, I could not focus because of all the uncertainty surrounding us.”
“Young children struggle to focus and I have to teach it again when school starts,” said Shiyalni, a 25-year-old middle and upper grade teacher at a private school in Colombo who prefers to be identified by her first name. She had to revert to online teaching due to the curfew.
Shiyalni observed that although most children she teaches come from affluent backgrounds, this crisis has touched them deeply. She adds that the, “the minority of students who are from the middle class suffer silently. I don’t think they feel comfortable talking about their financial struggles.” Shiyalni said school attendance has dropped, but is much lower compared with that of government schools.
A 23-year-old, civil engineering instructor at a state university in Nugegoda who wishes to remain anonymous said: “The imposition of curfew has done more damage to the daily lives of people instead of protecting them.”
Students who are using hostel facilities and have gone home, now have to return to university which is difficult due to the fuel scarcity. “Students now have to wait longer to graduate and that is really affecting their mental health.”
“Curfew disrupts their learning and causes a lot of emotional stress for them,” said a 38-year-old mother of two boys aged six and eight. In addition, teaching children to adapt to a routine which has been broken often due to covid and now this crisis is extremely stressful for both children and parents. Children have also developed separation anxiety because of all the time they have spent at home instead of going to school.
The mother of two had witnessed stressed moms and crying children at the school gates on May 18, when she went to drop her children off to school. Parents have raised concerns regarding children missing out on key development elements like socialising, adapting to new environments and making new friends due to curfew and online education.
Meanwhile, pages and pages of homework were sent through WhatsApp because teachers too are struggling to complete the syllabi. “Teachers are stressed because they have to finish the syllabi, parents are stressed because they now have to be the teacher and the kids are stressed too,” said the mother of two who did not wish to be named.
Online teaching and learning have been recommended to temporarily address the situation. However, power cuts are disruptive. Various zones have power cuts at different times and this has made it impossible for students to be present for all online lessons.
“We used to have group calls at 11 p.m. to do group assignments because that was the hour everyone in our group had power,” said Kaumadi Jayaweera, a 24-year-old in her final year of university.
Due to the power cuts, wi-fi connection is lost and even if one resorts to mobile data, that too loses connectivity speed after some time.
“A day before my final year exam, they enforced a curfew. Written exams were cancelled and everyone had to do online exams. But how can we do that with the power cuts? Many of our parents opted to get generators but where is the fuel?” said Nikita Razeen, a 23-year-old law undergraduate. The exams are still ongoing and students are struggling to write exams.
Nikita has had to defer two exams to October. “We don’t want to do the October exams because those are re-sit exams, we are having a crisis. Our exams should be postponed.” However, there is uncertainty about exams in October as these power cuts could be extended to 15 hours, Nikita remarked.
Avin Indrasoma is a first year software engineering student. The power cuts affect him on a much larger scale as his field of study is heavily dependent on his laptop. Late night meetings are the only alternative for projects.
Students also complained that power outages don’t follow the published schedule which makes it impossible to plan lessons.
The mental health of students has also severely declined with many students telling the Sunday Times that they feel hopeless, unmotivated, unproductive and have fears about the stability of their careers and future.
“How can we focus on our studies when there are so many problems?” questioned Nikita. She noted how people are protesting for basic needs and struggling to survive and added that It is impossible to stay unbothered and focus on studies.
These were the sentiments of 21-year-old Lia Augustin.
“It seems that no matter how much you try to control your own efforts, everything around you is falling apart, so it seems pointless.” She is currently pursuing a BSc in management and digital innovation and in her third year. She also teaches children and remarked that they too are “feeling down’’.
Shiyalni highlighted that her middle and upper grade students are anxious and struggling to focus and do not show an interest at times during lessons.
Amindri, too, shared similar sentiments. “Sri Lanka is going to experience a massive brain drain in the near future because of the policies and bad decisions made by the authorities. There will be very few skilled people here.”
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