The Central Board of Secondary Education told the Supreme Court on Thursday that it had decided to cancel the remaining board examinations for classes 10 and 12 that were to be held in July on account of the COVID-19 situation. The examinations were originally scheduled to be held in March, but were postponed on account of the coronavirus lockdown.
Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that the examinations scheduled for July 1 to 15 had been cancelled. Mehta told the Supreme Court "as soon as conditions will be conducive, we could conduct the CBSE class 12 examinations for students who opt for it".
A bench headed by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar was apprised by Mehta that a scheme has been formulated to assess the performance of class 12 students on the basis of their performance in last examinations.
Following suit, the ICSE has also announced cancellation of board examinations in the same period. Mehta noted ICSE had not given option for students to write the examination later.
The top court was hearing a plea, filed by some parents of students appearing for the exam, seeking a direction to the CBSE to declare the results on the basis of exam already conducted and to calculate it on an average basis with internal assessment marks of remaining subjects.
The petitioners told the Supreme Court that the governments of Maharashtra, Delhi and Odisha had conveyed their inability to conduct examinations.
During the hearing on a separate plea concerning ICSE exams, the counsel appearing for the ICSE told the bench that they would broadly follow the government's decision regarding CBSE exams.
