New Delhi, May 24 (IANS): National Students Union of India (NSUI) national President Neeraj Kundan has written a letter to Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank over the issue of holding Class 12 board exams and said that the government is not following its own guidelines.

Kundan in his letter said, "I am writing to bring this to your attention that while making the decision to conduct the 12th board examinations, you failed to consider your own guidelines which mention that, the vaccination drive so far is just for the citizens above the age of 18 and majority of these students are below the age of 18."

He said that keeping this fact in mind the decision of conducting this exam could be life threatening to the students appearing for the exams.

"There is also a fear that our country will be facing the third wave, and I hope you are totally aware that the scientific advisor to the Prime Minister K VijayRaghavan himself said, 'Phase 3 is inevitable given the high levels of circulating virus. But it is not clear on what timescale this Phase 3 will occur. Hopefully, incrementally, but we should prepare for new waves'.

"So, rather than taking precautionary measures to prevent the third wave, the decision taken by you to conduct the 12th board examinations is putting the lives of these innocent children at risk," the NSUI leader wrote.

He also said that another important aspect to be kept in mind before implementing this decision is proper vaccination of these children.

"The Central government has not come up with a concrete plan to vaccinate the children and it has not been even taken into consideration yet. On the other hand countries like US have already immunised almost 6 lakh children between the age of 12-15, UK has its roadmap to vaccinate their children but India is till date is struggling to vaccinate the 18 year plus individuals of the country and there seem to be no plan under considerations vaccinate the population below 18 years," he said.

He also pointed out that the studies of these children are at stake but there is nothing more important than the lives of the students.

"Hence it is requested to keep the safety of these students at priority and reconsider the decision to conduct the exams in July-August. No such decision must be taken before there is a definite plan of vaccination on paper," he added.

He further said that the children, who were so far safe from the pandemic as they were at their homes will now be at risk when they come out for their exams.