India: Supreme Court to hear plea to cancel CBSE, other board exams

The Indian Supreme Court will on Wednesday take up a petition for the cancellation of class X and XII board exams by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and other boards including those from the states.

A petitioner filed an urgent plea on Tuesday, pointing out that physical classes were not conducted during the Covid-19 crisis. “Even though the Corona situation has improved, classes have not commenced,” said Prashant Padmanabhan, the advocate for petitioner Anubha Srivastava Sahai, a child rights activist. He referred to the previous orders of the apex court last year, cancelling the board exams.

Emphasising the urgency of taking up the case, the advocate pointed out that state board exams had already begun in Madhya Pradesh. The petitioner also called for the setting up of a committee to finalise an alternative formula for assessment of marks of class XII students and for fixing a timeline for declaration of results and the date of admission for various universities.

Last year, almost all central and state education boards in India had cancelled the final examinations for classes X and XII in the wake of the second Covid wave. CBSE and some other state boards opted for a two-term board exam system. The first term is over and the second one is due in April.