The pending board examinations for class 10 and 12, earlier scheduled to take place from 1-15 July, now stand cancelled in the wake of pandemic, told Centre for Secondary Education (CBSE) to Supreme Court today.
The Solicitor General told a bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari&Sanjiv Khanna that CBSE will conduct examinations when conditions are conducive and added that a scheme has been set up where class 12 student will be assessed on the basis of last 3 exams and that an option to opt for exam would be given to the students later.
The counsel of CISCE, Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta told that following the suit of CBSE exams , The ICSE exams will also be cancelled.
The Decision had come after hearing of petitions filed by a group of parents who challenged the stance to conduct the remaining board CBSE exams in July by the CBSE.
The Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) on June 23 had communicated that a decision for conducting this year’s class 12 board examination would be taken later in the evening.
The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) has been given the liberty by the Court to follow the decision taken by CBSE or the Centre accordingly, albeit with slight modifications.
On behalf of the parents of students, the plea was filed by Advocate Rishi Malhotra challenging the decision of the authority to conduct the remaining CBSE board examinations from July 1 to July 15 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and stated that the same was arbitrary and in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India.
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CBSE on June 17 was directed by the court to hold consultationand take a decision in the following week regarding the conduct of the remaining Board exam papers and to examine whether marks could be allotted on the basis of internal assessment.
The plea stated that CBSE has a presence across the world, and examinations in 25 other foreign countries have been cancelled and the same standards should apply in India in light of the growing concern over the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
CBSE for CBSE exams should consider cancelling the exams as multiple universities have also cancelled their exams.
The Plea stated, “…the University of Delhi has cancelled their first year and second year undergraduate examination by stating that the same is not feasible during COVID-19 times. Similarly, even the premier institutes like IIT across the country have also cancelled all its exams including those of final year students because of the said situation. The State of Maharasthra has also cancelled all University exams including their final year examinations.”
The constant postponement of examinations and the delayed declaration of results for CBSE exams will inflict irreparable loss to the students who have secured admissions in International Universities as there is no surety on whether the COVID-19 situation is going to get better by July 2020.
Various practical difficulties exist such as the movements of students residing in containment zones and the unavailability of private vehicles for all students for CBSE exams , thereby restricting their movement to write the exam.
Hence, a prayer for quashing the notification by CBSE and seeking directions to the Centre and CBSE to declare results on the basis of internal assessments was put forth.
