CBSE to decide on pending board exam within a week
In response to a plea filed by a parent, Supreme Court has asked Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to consider cancellation of board exams of class 10 and 12 for the remaining papers that are scheduled to be conducted from July 1 to 15, 2020 and award marks to students based on their Internal Assessments. SC has asked the board to revert by next week (June 23, 2020)
The Supreme Court has passed the direction to CBSE while hearing a petition filed by a parent challenging the board’s decision to hold the pending exams amid the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. Parents have been worried about the safety of the children as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the country. A plea cited risk to a student’s health in the current scenario as the primary reason.
The Board in its reply has stated that it would take appropriate action on the issues raised in the plea ‘very shortly’.
“The said petition would also demonstrate the extent of discriminatory and arbitrariness conduct of the respondent/CBSE in issuing the notification for holding of the remaining examination and that too in the month of July 2020 wherein as per the AIIMS data, the said COVID-19 pandemic would be at its peak,” the plea has said. It further adds that the time period chosen by the board to conduct the remaining exams was also coinciding with the proposed ‘peak’ of cases as per AIIMS data.
A bench comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari, and Sanjeev Khanna heard the case and have asked CBSE to consider canceling it.
On the other hand, the Maharashtra government has also appealed to the board to cancel the exams in the state but the board replied that it is not possible. CBSE has already completed most of the evaluation work for the papers that were conducted.