The Supreme Court has granted a two weeks timeframe to CBSE and CISCE to determine the objective criteria for assessing the Class 12 students instead of conducting offline exams. Both the education boards have decided on cancelling their board exams. After the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation on Wednesday, the SC decided to grant two weeks to these boards for determining the objective criteria for evaluation.
CBSE stated in court that the decision regarding objective criteria shall be submitted in the coming two weeks. However, CISCE requested the bench of justices to grant four weeks’ time to decide the alternate evaluation method. However, the bench stated that four weeks is too much given the urgency of matter. This amount of time can lead to a delay in the admission process for higher education. Invariably, this will create a setback in the upcoming academic year 2021-22.
Read: Class 12th Board Exam 2021 Live News Today
Another petition was filed by Advocate Mamata Sharma requesting there to be a uniform direction across all state boards regarding the Class 12 evaluation. However, the bench decided on considering this issue only after CBSE and CISCE’s decision. The states shall receive more clarity on the type of evaluation criteria to use only after CBSE and CISCE give their decision. Moreover, some states such as Karnataka, Assam and West Bengal are still adamant on conducting their respective board exams.
In the last week of May 2021, the central government was venturing into the possibility of conducting Class 12 board exams. Options such as shortening the exam duration, reducing the number of subjects, etc were also explored. A total of 32 states and UTs had also supported the decision of conducting Class 12 board exams. However, after the demands for postponement intensified, the central government decided to cancel the CBSE Class 12 boards this year.
According to PM Modi, the second wave of COVID-19 has created multiple hurdles in the academics of students. The uncertainty surrounding board exams has also caused anxiety among students, teachers and parents. Taking this into consideration, the decision was taken to cancel the board exams. Subsequently, CISCE also decided to scrap their ISC exams 2021. While both boards have decided to choose alternate evaluation methods, more clarity on the same is awaited.
CBSE employed a similar decision for evaluation after cancelling the Class 10 board exams amid rising COVID19 cases. Accordingly, 20 marks were assigned to internal assessments, 10 marks for unit tests, 30 marks were assigned to mid-sem or half-yearly exams and the remaining 40 marks for pre-board exams. A similar evaluation methodology may be implemented for Class 12 students.
