supervision

Supervision

I entered a room filled with a silence full of anticipation and anxiety, penetrated by  nervous clicking of the pen, tapping of feet, a rummage through the bag for the elusive hall-ticket/pencil/calculator/"lucky pen". My arrival was burdensome for many but a welcome relief for some. Mechanically, I started with the instructions:  an order to keep away their books, cellphones(switched off),notebooks and bags, a gentle reminder to use a black pen and a request to "double check" their hall tickets.  

As soon as the question paper was distributed one witnessed familiar reactions: a fearful staring at the wall, or a heavy sigh of relief, a slight chuckle, a devilish smirk maybe,a last minute prayer,or a helpless and hopeless whistle of despair...all these set the mood in the exam hall. 

Then, began the ordeal. The meticulous signing of the answer books, (first and foremost: an eye for signatures), a scrutiny of the hall ticket coupled with a record of their attendance. Next came filling up the supervisor's report in duplicate. A gentle murmur began as soon as I began to prepare that.Slow and steady I completed the formalities. Still, I a had two long hours to kill. The sun making hay or whatever outside and my stomach stirring up an appetite inside I could barely stop myself from thinking about food. Particularly, stuff like juices and ice-creams. Well, here's an idea. I told my sinking spirits. I could pace up and down. That would be taking things in a stride :) I did that for forty minutes. I had lots and lots of time left. Let me check the sup reports again. Scan for errors. None found. Well, how about acting stern and formidable. The students must get an impression that I am a pro. So, there I was putting up an appearance. My silly plan fell through I almost started laughing. The watch smiled and said : Nice try, darling!  Utter disbelief and a maddening rush to finish the paper began as I shamelessly and gleefully announced that the students  had one more hour left. That was reminiscent of  "Ah, Faustus.Now hast thou but one bare hour to live," or write, in this case. For me, on the other hand it was an hour more of torture and then the sweet taste of freedom or Aamras (for lunch ).

As soon as the bell rang, I collected the papers and made a dash to the exam control room. My joy was short lived. For, the room was full of people. I had to patiently wait for my turn. Having got the papers checked and the documents signed I began with the remaining formalities. These involved a tearing away off a particular section of the first page of each answerbook. Finally, tearing away many sheets and my frustration, I stepped out of the control room.

As I walked up to the staff room, I met a collegue who had a supervision that day. She had a field day: she caught a copy case. At that precise moment the whole exercise became clear to me: supervision is a preventive mechanism. In order to contribute to the entire process of judgment and evaluation of students, a watchdog is a must. Though, it is the students and examiners that are active components of the process, a supervisor is necessary. As John Milton famously said ,"They also serve who only stand and wait."

As I made a mad run to the muster, I saw the next day's supervisors' chart. There in bold was my name.

I could not help but think: A different paper, a different classroom and a completely new set ot examinees awaited me tomorrow. "After all tomorrow is another day."