New Delhi: In view of the current situation, the CBSE has notified the Supreme Court regarding the remaining final exams to be held in July. It has informed that they will be taking a decision by Wednesday evening about the rest of the Board exams as discussions pertaining to it are already at an advanced level.
Speaking about the students and their worries, the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, before a bench comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna said that both the Central Board of Secondary Education and the Centre are aware of the students’ concerns and understandtheir anxiety in regards to the examination schedule.
The Solicitor General requested for a postponement of the hearing for a day. He said that as the discussions have reached an advanced stage for the remaining exams, he asked the top court to adjourn the issue for a day. After the brief hearing, the court gave the next hearing to be done on July 25.
Meanwhile, the SC also took up another petition that asked for ways and better decision regarding the scrapping of the Indian School Certificate Examinations (ICSE) examination in the light of Covid-19 pandemic.
ICSE’s counsel informed the court that it will follow the Centre’s decision on CBSE exams.
However, the bench noted that the ICSE can take a decision after considering the ongoing situation.
Mehta argued that the decision on the CBSE shouldn’t be mandatory to be followed by the ICSE.
The parents’ of students appearing in CBSE Board exams had raised pleas in the top court, arguing that the decision on the schedule of exams in July showed the extent of CBSE’s discriminatory and self-validatedaction in issuing the notification for conducting the remaining examinations.
The parents cited that as per AIIMS, the COVID-19 pandemic would be at its peak in July.
The petitioners urged the apex court to direct the CBSE to declare the results on the basis of examination already conducted along with an average of internal assessment marks in the remaining subjects/papers, and also disregard the notification for the examinations from July 1.
The petition said that on May 25, the Human Resource Development Ministry had announced exams for Class X and XII at almost 15,000 exam centres as opposed to 3,000 centres earlier.
“Ensuring proper cleanliness and safety standards as prescribed by the government in COVID-19 situation in those 15,000 exam centres spread across the length and breadth of the country, including rural sectors, would not only be risking health and lives of children but also be an exercise in futility and an eyewash,” said the petition.
In the ICSE matter, the Bombay High Court had on Monday asked the Maharashtra government to defend and explain its decision in connection with the examination schedule for Classes 10 and 12 to be held in July.
