NEW DELHI, June 22: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea challenging the decisions of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) to cancel the class 12 board examinations this year due to the Covid pandemic.
The apex court also dismissed all challenges mounted to the new assessment policies that have been devised by CBSE and CISCE for computation of marks.
The SC said the evaluation schemes set by CBSE and CISCE were fair and reasonable and that the court saw no reason to interfere with them. The evaluation formulae by the two main boards are thus accepted.
“We hold that there is no need to interfere with the scheme propounded by CBSE and ICSE. It takes into account concerns of all students,” a Bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari said.
Regarding the plea challenging the cancellation of exams, the Bench said, “Board has taken a conscious decision at the highest level and taken on larger public interest. We are not going to sit in judgement over it.”
When the petitioner Anshul Gupta asked why board exams have to be cancelled even when competitive examinations like IIT-JEE or CLAT can be held physically, the court said the decision should be left to the discretion of each individual board.
“Each board is different and logistical needs are different, each exam is independent exam. Board has to take that decision…Individual perception will not decide this case. Decision based on larger interest has to be taken, there are logistical issues and issues with teacher and support staff,” the apex court said.
Dismissing the petition, the SC said, “In our opinion it is not possible to accept the submission by Anshul Gupta that since other institutions are able to conduct exam it does not mean the boards can hold the exam. Boards have decided to cancel exam in larger public interest. The policy adopted by CBSE was adopted by an expert body of 13 experts.”
Senior Counsel Vikas Singh, appearing for The Uttar Pradesh Parents’ Association, Lucknow, which had moved the Supreme Court against CBSE’s assessment policy, said students should be given the option to appear physically for examinations instead of waiting to know the marks that have been computed.
To this, the SC said, “We are of the considered opinion that entertaining this plea will create uncertainty until improvisation exams are conducted. After results declared on July 31 then improvisation exam may be opted for.”
The court also accepted the argument of Attorney General (AG) KK Venugopal, representing the government, who told SC that taking into consideration the past performances of students was essential for the evaluation process.
Supreme Court also heard the plea seeking a cancellation of the CBSE compartment exams 2021. A joint plea filed by 1,152 students wants CBSE to evaluate compartment students on the basis of the evaluation scheme decided by regular students.
The apex court decided that the Class 12 board exam will not be cancelled for the compartment, private and repeater students. They will appear for a physical exam when the situation is conducive, sometime between August 15 and September 15.
The petition by 1152 students to cancel the CBSE Class 12 Compartment exam was rejected.
“Present scheme says exam will be held where all such candidates can appear as private candidates and exams will be held from August 15 to September 15 and results will be at the earliest so that these students can pursue their career if so desired,” SC said.
“In view of the above, we hold that there is no need to interfere with the scheme propounded by CBSE and ICSE. It takes into account concerns of all students. Both writ petitions are being disposed off,” the apex court stated.
The CBSE will conduct exams only in the major subjects for those students who are not satisfied with the marking system and opt for written examinations. The exams will be held between August 15 and September 15, 2021 is the situation is conducive. The results will be declared at the earliest.
For Private/ Patrachar/2nd chance compartment candidates, the examinations will be conducted in such a manner so that they will fall within the Assessment Policy for the Academic Year 2019-2020 as approved by the Supreme Court last year.
(Manas Dasgupta)
