New Delhi: After a clamour among students across India for the cancellation of all Class 12 physical examinations, a Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing on the petitions seeking the cancellation of CBSE Compartment/Private/Repeaters exams, as well as of various state board examinations. An intervention application was filed on behalf of 1152 Class X and Class XII students who have been demanding the cancellation of the private and compartment exams in line with the decision for regular students.
Petitioners prayed to the Supreme Court for a direction to the Board to arrive at an assessment formula for the Compartment/Private/Repeaters students, as it adopted for regular students of CBSE and other Education Boards.
Senior Advocate Abhishek Choudhary, who had filed an intervention application on behalf of the private / compartment/repeater students, pointed out a communication by one student to the CBSE where it was asked If exams private students have been cancelled. He noted that the CBSE had communicated that all Class X and Class XII exams have been cancelled for this year.
“This will affect not only their right to equality but also their right to equal opportunities to get admission in colleges for higher studies”, Choudhary argued in court, noting that students will not even be able to qualify in entrance tests like CLAT.
The advocate referred to last year’s judgment in Amit Bathla vs CBSE, to which the apex court said that counselling for admissions can be deferred till results are announced.
The top court has listed the hearing again for 2 PM tomorrow, stating that it will hear all other petitions regarding the cancellation of Class 12 board exams tomorrow as well.
Speaking to India.com earlier, Advocate Abhishek Choudhary had said, “The present situation is not conducive for conducting any type of physical mode examination, for any class of students. No one can say the exact date when the situation would be conducive, and, therefore, we have approached the Hon’ble Supreme Court seeking appropriate reliefs in the interest of the students.”
The CBSE has submitted the Class 12 Evaluation Criteria 2021 for result calculation to the Supreme Court. In the detailed criteria as shared by the CBSE, marks scored by students in their Class 10, 11 and 12 would be considered in the ratio of 30%, 30% and 40%. Meanwhile, the ICSE has decided to assess the Class XII results based on last six years performance.