The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked the Maharashtra government if exams for 14 lakh students in Class XII can be held then on what basis were Class X exams cancelled.
A Division Bench of Justices S.J. Kathawall and S.P. Tavade was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Professor Dhananjay Kulkarni challenging the decision of cancelling board exams for Class X by the Secondary School Certificate (SSC). The PIL sought for a direction from the court to hold the exams and not mark students without assessment.
Public Prosecutor P.P. Kakade, representing the State, said, “We are waiting for the State Council of Educational Research and Training [SCERT], they are working on overall control on the marking system, and we will have it in one week.”
Justice Kathawalla asked, “If you’ve decided to cancel, when will you hold the exam?” In reply, Mr. Kakade said, “We will hold the exam. We are only waiting for the SCERT suggestion.”
The court then said, “The suggestion about the marking system is irrelevant. We are asking when you will hold the exam. Are you thinking of promoting them without exams? This is the main exam, and the only main exam that’s held in the last year of schooling. If you are waiting for suggestions from SCERT, whose suggestion is it to promote the students without exams? Are we making a mockery of our education system?”
Mr. Kakade said, “It’s the pandemic.”
The court interrupted and said, “If it’s the pandemic, how are you holding exams for Class XII? We can’t spoil the career and future of our children. The framers of the education policy in the State should know that. This is not acceptable at all.” The court asked who was taking these decisions.
Mr. Kakade replied it was a policy decision of the government. The court said, “You’re just destroying the system. If you’re holding exams for 14 lakh students in Class XII, then what is the basis for this discrimination. Things are done at the whims and fancies of so-called policy makers.”
Mr. Kakade said that he would file a detailed affidavit on this issue and suggested that the matter could be taken up for final hearing.
Meanwhile, child rights activist Anubha Shrivastava Sahai filed an intervention application and opposed the PIL by stating the State’s decision of cancelling the SSC board examination must not be revoked owing to the pandemic.
