Class 12 Board exams 2021: Govt to decide in 2 days on Class 12 exams, Attorney General tells SC

The Centre has cancelled the CBSE Class 12 examinations in light of COVID-19.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that the CBSE Class 12 examinations have been cancelled in view of COVID-19. He said that the decision on the Class 12 CBSE board exams has been taken in the interest of students due to the uncertain situation created due to the pandemic. It has also been decided that CBSE will take steps to compile the CBSE 12^th results 2021 as per a ‘well-defined objective criteria’ in a time-bound manner. Moreover, the CISCE Board Secretary Gerry Arathoon has announced that the ISC examinations also stand cancelled. 

Latest Update: The CBSE Class 12 examinations have been cancelled in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The same has been announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 1, 2021. Read Here

During a court hearing on May 31, the government had announced that it will take a final decision on the conduct of Class 12 board examinations in the next two days. The same was informed by Attorney General K K Venugopal during the hearing of a plea seeking cancellation of the Class 12 board examinations. The bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari, during the hearing, said that if the Centre decides to depart from the last year’s policy, wherein the remaining board exams were cancelled due to the pandemic, then it must give “tangible reasons” for it. The apex court has said that it will examine the centre's decision and so has adjourned the hearing to June 3.

Last year on June 26, the SC had approved the schemes of the CBSE, ISC for cancellations of remaining board examinations scheduled from July 1 to 15 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and also approved their formula for assessment of examinees.

 The plea, filed by petitioner Mamta Sharma, has also sought directions to devise an "objective methodology" to declare the Class 12 Results within a specific time frame.

Here are some excerpts from the court hearing today:

The Ministry of Education had recently sought detailed suggestions from the states and Union Territories till May 25 on the proposals discussed after a high-level meeting was conducted. The CBSE had proposed conducting the exams between July 15 and August 26 and the result to be declared in September. Moreover, the board had proposed two options: conducting regular exams for 19 major subjects at notified centres or conducting shorter duration exams at respective schools where students are enrolled.

The plea by Mamta Sharma read, “In view of the unprecedented health emergency and rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country, the conduct of examination (either offline/online/blended) in upcoming weeks is not possible and delay in the examination will cause irreparable loss to the students as time is the essence in taking admission in higher education courses in foreign universities." I t has also sought setting aside of the notifications, issued last months by the CBSE and the CISCE, only in respect of the clauses dealing with the postponement of Class 12 examinations.

The petition also said that it is the utmost duty of the state to take care of the health and safety of students and at the same time, not to hamper their higher education and career prospects.

Read More:

• CBSE 12th examinations 2021 cancelled