Can’t risk 9 lakh lives, reconsider holding Class X exam: Madras high court
Uncertainty has gripped Class X board exams, scheduled to start on June 15, as the Madras high court on Monday asked the state government to consider postponing the exam in view of soaring Covid-19 cases across Tamil Nadu.
File photo: Madras high courtCHENNAI: Uncertainty has gripped Class X board exams, scheduled to start on June 15, as the Madras high court on Monday asked the state government to consider postponing the exam in view of soaring Covid-19 cases across Tamil Nadu.
“We cannot allow the state to put lives of more than nine lakh students at risk. This is not like opening Tasmac shops during the lockdown…There is absolutely no logic in conducting the exams risking the lives of nine lakh students,” observed a division bench of justices Vineet Kothari and R Suresh Kumar on Monday. The judges also made it clear that they are prima facie convinced to restrain the state from conducting the exam.
The bench, however, refrained from passing any order and, instead, adjourned the hearing to June 11 giving the government two days’ time to inform the court about its stand. The government has also been directed to file a detailed report on the issue. On Monday, when the hearing commenced, the bench asked the state government whether it could give an undertaking that no student will be infected with Covid-19 if the state was allowed to hold the exam.
Advocate-general Vijay Narayan told the court that according to expert opinions, widely published in news reports, Covid-19 count might increase to even 10 lakh cases in the coming days. Therefore, this is the right time to conduct the exam, he said.
“CBSE schools have successfully conducted board exams for Class XII. There are more than 200 such schools in Tamil Nadu and no one complained. We do not know why only the state board schools are targeted,” Narayan said.
When the chief law officer reasoned that exams must be conducted at some stage, and it would be difficult to conduct it later, the bench pointed to the state’s decision to not open educational institutions till the Covid-19 threat subsides and asked why Class X students alone must be forced to write the exam. The Tamil Nadu High and Higher Secondary School Graduate Teachers Association had challenged the decision to conduct the exam from June 15.
“We cannot allow the state to put lives of more than nine lakh students at risk. This is not like opening Tasmac shops during the lockdown…There is absolutely no logic in conducting the exams risking the lives of nine lakh students,” observed a division bench of justices Vineet Kothari and R Suresh Kumar on Monday. The judges also made it clear that they are prima facie convinced to restrain the state from conducting the exam.
The bench, however, refrained from passing any order and, instead, adjourned the hearing to June 11 giving the government two days’ time to inform the court about its stand. The government has also been directed to file a detailed report on the issue. On Monday, when the hearing commenced, the bench asked the state government whether it could give an undertaking that no student will be infected with Covid-19 if the state was allowed to hold the exam.
Advocate-general Vijay Narayan told the court that according to expert opinions, widely published in news reports, Covid-19 count might increase to even 10 lakh cases in the coming days. Therefore, this is the right time to conduct the exam, he said.
“CBSE schools have successfully conducted board exams for Class XII. There are more than 200 such schools in Tamil Nadu and no one complained. We do not know why only the state board schools are targeted,” Narayan said.
When the chief law officer reasoned that exams must be conducted at some stage, and it would be difficult to conduct it later, the bench pointed to the state’s decision to not open educational institutions till the Covid-19 threat subsides and asked why Class X students alone must be forced to write the exam. The Tamil Nadu High and Higher Secondary School Graduate Teachers Association had challenged the decision to conduct the exam from June 15.
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