Class 12 board exams: SC hearing adjourned till June 3; FICCI urges Centre to cancel exams

The Supreme Court hearing of a plea seeking directions to the Centre, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), and the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) to cancel class 12 board exams has been adjourned till Thursday (June 3).

Attorney General KK Venugopal, who appeared for the Centre, told the bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar that they will take a final call on Class 12 exams in a couple of days and they need time till Thursday to apprise the top court of their decision.  The bench, however, asked the Centre to give a good and tangible reason if it decides to hold the exams.

"You are free to take whatever decision. But there is hope expressed by petitioner that the policy adopted last year can be adopted this year. If the government is departing from last year decisions then give tangible reasons," the SC bench stated.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has also urged the Centre to cancel Class 12 CBSE exams given the current coronavirus situation.

"COVID cases in the country are still very high... As such, the current situation is not conducive to conducting an in-person examination and holding an online examination is impractical given the lack of infrastructure; most importantly, any further delay will lead to distress among students," FICCI President Uday Shankar wrote in this letter.

Shankar further recommended early evaluation and wrote, "It is imperative, therefore, that the Class 12 evaluation process is completed by mid-July so that there is a smooth transition to higher education for all students."

Advocate Mamata Sharma had filed a plea urging the government to not conduct offline exams for class 12 students this year and seek alternative evaluation techniques and an objective methodology was needed to declare the results of class 12 examination within a specified time frame.

Edited by Mehak Agarwal

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