In New York, students must take Regents examinations. Regents exams are state-regulated tests that correlate with certain high school students’ classes. 

Ever since 1866, when Regents exams were first introduced and administered, there have been constant adaptations done to the test or cancellations of certain tests. 

Rightfully so, regents were canceled last year because of how the world was dealing with COVID-19. 

Not taking into consideration the grief and overwhelmingness of being a student during a pandemic, the New York State Education Department is deciding to administer regents for four subjects this year. 

Similar to state tests we took when we were younger, Regents show up on your transcript too. 

WJPS junior Bianca Cavounis said, “Besides your general progress in school, of course, Regents are something else to have on your transcript. They are decent to help with college.” 

Content with how helpful it will be when applying to college in upcoming months, it is not easy for everyone to manage doing school within the confinement of their homes and not a classroom. 

Jada Solomon, another WJPS junior said, “I think it is unnecessary because we haven’t learned a lot from remote learning due to the fact that most of us are visual learners and not online learners.”

It is unfair to hold students accountable to take state tests that they are not mentally prepared to take. 

With time anything is achievable. With time, students will learn to adapt to situations like these, and NYSED will learn what should and shouldn’t be done during times like these. 

“Multiple choice exam” by pennstatenews is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0