CBSE, CISCE 12th Board exams 2021: CANCELLATION? Supreme Court to decide students fate today

The Supreme Court on Monday will decide the fate of Class 12 board students of both the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), as it is going to resume hearing on a plea seeking cancellation of exams. 

Deferring the case to Monday (May 31) that is today, a bench comprising of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari, earlier on May 28, had asked petitioner Advocate Mamta Sharma to serve the advanced copy of the petition to respondents including Centre, CBSE, and CISCE, india.com reported. 

The petition filed by Sharma states, “Conducting Class 12 board examinations online or offline not feasible because of an unprecedented pandemic. Delay in the declaration of Class 12 results will hamper students taking admission to foreign universities. CBSE and CISCE must devise an objective methodology to declare the results within the specified time else it will affect nearly 12 lakh students”. 

Mentioning that students cannot be subjected to suffer uncertainty amid unprecedented public health crisis, the plea contended that notifications issued by CBSE and ICSE deferring the exams to an unspecified date should be quashed. 

Similarly, the supreme court will also take up another plea filed by Kerala Teacher Tony Joseph against the cancellation of class 12 board exams. “Class 12 exam is an integral part of the life of a student and important for admission to higher educational institutions….” the petition said. 

Meanwhile, the CBSE and CISCE boards are mulling alternative options, including cancellation and adopting an alternative assessment route or perhaps shorter format exams. 

Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari on Friday had told the petitioner Mamta Sharma to “Be optimistic. Maybe by Monday (May 31), some resolution will be there.” 

Amid the pandemic the Supreme Court, last year, had asked boards to determine and declare Class XII exam results on the basis of earlier assessment of students. 

The crucial top court hearing comes a day before the CBSE is expected to its decision regarding the conduct of Class 12 Board Exams on June 1.