Currently, some higher educational institutions of the republic are holding a session of final controls for the past semester. But now it is not about the difficulties, injustice, arrogance and bribery for the student in these sessions.

   In this "season" when grades are calculated, the familiar process is repeated for all students and teachers: in order to get a satisfactory grade on the subjects mastered during the semester, the teacher requires the student to do independent work (reference, portfolio, presentation, etc.). The volume and diversity of these independent works also increase under the influence of factors such as the complexity of the lesson, the level of demand and rigor of the teacher, the lessons left by the student, and the demand for high grades.

   Teachers note that independent work is one of the criteria for evaluating student knowledge. Of the maximum 100 points to be earned during the semester, 10 points are allocated for independent work. Additionally, independent work is required when the student leaves classes ("processing" the "nb") or for seminars and practical exercises.

   The fact is that these independent papers must be submitted on paper, with all possibilities for electronic submission. As a reason, it is cited as "proof of the assessment when the check arrives."

   Now let's calculate. According to the State Statistics Committee, as of 2017, there are 661,800 thousand students in the republic. Each of them studies an average of 8 subjects per semester. If each subject requires one independent work with an average of at least 10 pages, then one student will spend 80 pieces of A4 paper per semester, while all students in the republic will spend 52,944,000 pieces of A4 paper.

    Now another arithmetic. According to the internet, 11,855 pieces of A4 paper are produced from one medium-sized tree. Therefore, it takes 4,470 trees to make 23,077.60 pieces of paper that are used for independent work. This is only the cost of one academic semester. In addition, we did not count the course papers with 20-30 pages each and the diploma papers with at least 60 pages each, the documents maintained by the teachers.

   Students abroad prepare teachers' assignments in electronic form and send them by e-mail. And we can't seem to get away from the idea of "there's no trust in technology." Even the teachers themselves emphasize that the independent work being accepted is nothing more than useless fabrication, but that "those who come from above" require paper.

   Is it time to move from traditional paperwork to electronic form? In any case, we are already causing enough damage to nature by cutting down a lot of trees.

    What do you think about this idea if nature is damaged as a result of excessive paperwork at the session? How much do we need it? Leave your comments in the comments...

Collector Ma'mura Turaeva