CBSE, ICSE Board Class 12 Exams 2021: FINAL DECISION ON THIS DATE?

The Supreme Court on Monday has again deferred the plea against the cancellation of Class 12 exams of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) boards giving the government two days’ time to take a final call. 

According to media reports, Attorney General KK Venugopal told a bench comprising of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari that the government will take a final decision within the next two days on whether to hold Class 12 CBSE and CISCE examinations this year amid the covid crisis. 

The bench was hearing a plea filed by an advocate Mamta Sharma seeking directions to cancel the class 12 exams of the CBSE and CISCE in view of the current situation of the second covid wave. 

“No issue. You take the decision. You are entitled to it. If you are departing from the policy of last year, then you must give tangible reasons for it,” the bench told the Attorney General. 

The bench first heard the petition on Friday (May 28) and deferred it to Monday (May 31) asking Sharma to serve the copy of petition to the counsel representing CBSE. 

The petition read, “In view of the unprecedented health emergency and rising numbers of the COVID-19 cases in the country, the conduct of examination, either offline or online or blended in upcoming weeks is not possible and delay in the examination will cause irreparable loss to the students as time are the essence in taking admission in higher education courses in foreign universities.” 

Meanwhile, the CBSE perhaps would make a final decision on Class 12 board exams by June 1. And, the CICSE board has asked its affiliated schools to submit an average of marks obtained by Class 12 students in Class 11 and during this session, which has no clarity so far.