GUWAHATI: A total of 6,469 parents from across the country, including guardians from Assam, filed a petition in the Supreme Court for cancellation of all state board Class 12 exams.
The petitioners wrote to the apex court that all state boards must follow the decision of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and evaluate Class XII students based on an alternative method.
CBSE, through a notification dated June 1, had cancelled the examination for Class 12 and announced that the result would be declared on the basis of an objective methodology for assessment.
“Following the same approach as being adopted by CBSE, some of the state boards have already cancelled Class 12 examinations but Assam, Tripura, Telangana, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh haven’t cancelled the examinations which has caused great distress and anxiety among the students.
Such stepmotherly treatment with state boards students is arbitrary, inhuman and in clear contravention of Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India,” the petition reads.
Child rights activist and advocate, Anubha Shrivastava Sahai and others filed the petition before the apex court.
The petition has also asked the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) to scrap its Class 12 final exams.
The plea has sought the apex court’s directions to cancel offline exams for Class 12 students and asked for the University Grants Commission (UGC) to form a committee to prepare a formula for assessing students who want to pursue non-professional courses.
“Simply taking a decision to conduct offline examinations without considering the suggestions of medical experts and without evaluating the consequences by considering the current rate of casualties in India per day is completely illegal, unjust, arbitrary and against the fundamental right to life provided under Article 21 of the Constitution of India,” the petition stated.
This is the third petition filed in the Supreme Court for the cancellation of board exams.
Earlier, the apex court heard two petitions – one for cancellation of CBSE, ICSE Class 12 board exams and the other against it.
As India battles a devastating second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, many students and parents across the country have shared concerns about appearing for physical exams.
States like Delhi and Kerala have asked the central government to arrange vaccines for board exams students.