SC seeks CBSE response to plea against board exams in July

NEWDELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)’s response to a plea seeking quashing of the latter’s May 18 decision to hold the remaining board examinations for Class 10 and 12 from July 1 to July 15.

The CBSE’s lawyer did not have concrete instructions from his client and sought time to respond.

The court did not issue a formal notice but asked CBSE to consider the plea and respond by June 23 whether it would go ahead with the exams.

CBSE on May 18 issued a notification on holding the remaining examinations.

It put ongoing exams on hold two months earlier due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Four parents have filed the petition saying their children face the risk of contracting the infection if they appear for the exams while citing warnings that the infections will peak in July.

They have called the fresh notification for the exams arbitrary. The court asked the petitioner’s counsel, Rishi Malhotra, what his clients’ proposal was in case the examinations are postponed. Malhotra told the court that results should be declared as per marks scored in exams held and internal assessment scores of the papers for which exams have not been held.

The petition noted that the examinations were being held across 15,000 centres and added that ensuring proper cleanliness and safety standards as prescribed would be “a herculean task”.

“[Covid] cases in India are rising dramatically and as on date there are almost 3,00,000 cases... Moreover, even if it is to be assumed that 50 percent of the cases are asymptomatic, then the students appearing for these exams could also be potential careers themselves posing a great risk to the other family members,” the petition stated.