Inside Story

Is India’s government putting students’ lives at risk?

Students say they will not sit for offline university entrance exams, citing the coronavirus pandemic.

In just under a week, millions of students in India will be expected to sit for university entrance exams. That despite the country reaching new heights in the spread of the coronavirus.

Many students say that is not good enough and they are fighting back.

So-called “black protests” are being held online and across the country, demanding the government postpone the tests.

But leaders say any delay will waste the academic year and they are not backing down.

So what is next? And how damaging is the virus to education?

Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra

Guests:

Alakh Alok Srivastava – Advocate-on-record for the Supreme Court of India

Shashwat Kumar – Student at Delhi Public School, RK Puram and aspiring engineering student set to sit the exams to get into his course

Siddheshwar Shukla – Associate professor at Delhi University and former president of the Student Federation of India