Students of class 10 and 12 have the option to not appear in the remaining board exams of ICSE and have the result completed on the basis of marks obtained in pre-board examinations or internal assessment and also the marks awarded in the papers which he/she has already written before the lockdown as per The Council For The Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE).
A writ plea was filed by Advocate Arvind Tiwari who sought directions for cancellation of the remaining ICSE board exams scheduled to be held from July 2 all over Maharashtra and declaration of results on the basis of gradation and past performance.
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice SS Shinde heard this matter of ICSE Exams.
Senior Advocate Darius Khambatta appeared on behalf of CISCE and submitted that a decision taken by the Council wherein several options have been made available for the examinees. Apart from physical appearance to write the examinations, the decision also gives an option to an examinee, who is not willing to write the examination physically, to have his result completed on the basis of marks obtained by him at the pre-Board examination/internal assessment and also upon taking into account the marks awarded to him in the papers which he has already written.
State government had informed the Court on Friday that the situation on the ground with regard to the spread of pandemic of Covid-19 is serious in Maharashtra and therefore it will not be viable to hold the pending board examinations.
The court noted the following in this matter,
“The decision prima facie appears to us to be fair and reasonable. However, we wish not to close the matter here and now having regard to the importance of the issue involved in this PIL Petition.
We request the Respondent No.2 (ICSE Board) to forward the decision to all the Principals of schools affiliated to such respondent with an instruction to share it with the parents of the students on the rolls of such schools. That apart, paper publication will be made in a Marathi, English and Hindi daily, tomorrow, giving a gist of the decision for information of all concerned.”
In the meanwhile, State has been directed to file an affidavit and clarify its stand after considering the decision of the ICSE Board tomorrow.
The next hearing will take place on June 17 at 10:45 am.
