SC gives CBSE 2 weeks for evaluation formula

The Supreme Court on Thursday set a two-week deadline for the Centre to come up with a “well-defined objective criteria” for the assessment of Class 12 students of the Central Bureau of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Council for Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) following the cancellation of their examinations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Attorney general KK Venugopal, who appeared for the Centre, shared an official communication intimating the court about the cancellation.

A bench of justices AM Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari said they were happy over the “in principle” decision to cancel the examinations, but asked the government why no decision was taken on the criteria of assessment. “...what will be the objective criteria to assess students? It has not been spelt out in your letter,” the bench said.

Venugopal said that the decision was pending as the government needed to determine whether to include the performance from Class 10 onwards, or restrict the assessment to Class 12 alone. “There is another issue of which subjects to assess. All this may take at least three weeks.”

Senior advocate JK Das, appearing for CISCE, sought four weeks to come out with a scheme. “This time, unlike last year, we have asked for data from all principals with regard to all subjects,” Das said. Venugopal, however, agreed to a twoweek deadline after the court said that in the age of videoconferencing, a decision could even be taken overnight.

The court told Das that students were concerned about college admissions not just in India but abroad as well.