Board Exams: Plea Filed in SC Against Holding Physical Exams

A write petition has been filed in the Supreme Court, by scores of students from over fifteen States across the country, seeking an alternative assessment method for upcoming classes 10 and 12 board exams for instead of holding physical exam.

The petition claims that boards including various State boards, Central Bureau of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education are going ahead with physical exams despite the current Covid-19 situation.

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The students have moved the plea though Child rights activist Anubha Shrivastava Sahai and Students Union of Odisha, as reported by Live Law. The petitioners have also asked SC’s directions to all boards for declaration of results on time and an option for improvement exam due to various challenges being faced by them.

“The students are dissatisfied by this kind of behaviour of State government and other boards and stressed and worried about their future and career,” the plea said.

It added, “The petitioners therefore submit that, in fact subjecting the children to write the examination and conducting the examination when the Covid-19 wave is still high, with the number of patients infected and death is rising day by day, when there are seen unprecedented mortality numbers, when the experts are predicting that third wave of resurgence likely to mostly affect children and young people, it will be violating their right to life.”

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The petitioners claimed that while education is important, it is not more important than the lives and mental health of students, teachers, other staff and parents of the children who will have to face the brunt of Covid-19 pandemic as they will have to “venture out to appear for physical exam”.

Apart from this the plea also urged SC to give directions to University Grants Commission to constitute a committee to declare the date for admission into various Universities and to work out a formula for assessment of Class XII students who want to pursue their further studies in non-professional courses.

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