Digital Desk: On Wednesday, the Supreme Court turned down a petition seeking cancellation of offline board exams for classes 10 and 12, including ICSE and the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS).
According to the apex court panel led by Justice AM Khanwilkar, this kind of petition are misleading and give students false hope.
“This not only promotes false hopes, but it also creates uncertainty among students who are preparing.” said the bench, which also comprises Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and C T Ravikumar.
“Let the students do their duties and the authorities do their jobs.” the bench added.
The petition was brought before the Supreme Court for urgent consideration by activist Anubha Shrivastava Sahai and others.
The counsel, appearing before the petitioners, told the SC bench that the SC has issued instructions about class 10 and 12 board examinations in 2020 and 2021 and that the same issue exists this year as well.
“Last year, there was a scheme following your lordships’ intervention. This year, too, we need a solution; otherwise, this will go on. This would damage future admissions and will put students’ futures at stake.” the counsel said.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court asked the counsel if the examinations had begun or were about to begin. According to the lawyer, the Madhya Pradesh board’s test has begun.
“The corona situation has improved, but the classes have not been completed... You should not conduct the examination until the course has been completed. This is going to cause much more delay. Till now, CBSE has not offered any strategy, he stated.
The bench asked the counsel to serve an advance copy of the CBSE’s standing counsel application.
The bench granted liberty to serve the standing counsel for the concerned respondents after the lawyer stated that he would endeavour to serve an advance copy of the petition to all of the respondents.
The petition requested that the CBSE and other education boards, which have suggested offering board examinations for classes 10 and 12 in an offline format, establish alternative evaluation methods.
The CBSE has scheduled term two board exams for grades 10 and 12 from April 26.
On Monday, the petition was referred to a bench led by Chief Justice N V Ramana for an urgent hearing.
Due to the epidemic, the counsel advised the CJI-led bench that no physical examination should be done.
According to the bench, the matter would be heard by a bench led by Justice Khanwilkar.
The SC validated the assessment systems of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) and the CBSE on June 17, 2021, which had established the 30:30:40 formula for evaluating scores for students in the 12th grade based on results from classes 10, 11, and 12.
The CBSE had previously said that class 12 students would be evaluated for theory based on 30% marks from the class 10 board, 30% from class 11, and 40% from marks earned in the unit, mid-term, and pre-board tests in class 12.
It stated that marks achieved by class 12 students in practical and internal assessments on a real-time basis, as submitted by schools to the CBSE portal, will be considered in determining final results.
