Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Nov.15: The Supreme Court of India has postponed the hearing of a petition from CBSE and CISCE students who want to take their term 1 exams online. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) have set November 15 as the start date for term 1 exams for students in classes 10 and 12.
The students who filed the petition oppose the use of purely offline mode for Class 10 and Class 12 term 1 exam, and instead want that the tests be held in a hybrid mode that includes both online and offline components.
The CISCE, which administers the ICSE Class 10th and ISC Class 12th annual exams, will begin term 1 exams on November 22 and end on December 20, while the CBSE term 1 exams will begin on November 16 and end on December 22.
“Exams for major subjects in December 2021 are spread over three weeks, placing the petitioners in great apprehension on the risk of infection and the impact on subsequent exams. Preceding the exams for major subjects in December 2021 are the exams for Minor subjects in November 2021 in physical mode, further aggravating the likelihood of turning the exams for Major subjects into a Super Spreader Event,” the plea said.
Six students filed the petition with the help of lawyer Sumanth Nookala. Continuous exposure through offline centre-based exams will “sharply” raise the risk of Covid infection, according to the report, and is a violation of the right to health.
“At any rate, such continuous exposure through offline exams sharply increases the risk of infection to Covid 19 rendering the impugned action as arbitrary and in violation of Right to Health,” the plea said.
The option of hybrid exams, which combine online and offline components, will help with social alienation and alleviate the impact on logistical restrictions, according to the petition.
The petitioners also had argued that taking students’ consent to conduct exams without giving a valid choice is not right and should not happen. “Many students have reported that consent is being secured by resorting to misrepresentation and coercion,” the plea added.
