The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the state boards to notify their respective assessment schemes for Class 12 students within ten days, after the cancellation of physical examination.
The top court also directed the boards to declare results before July 31.
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A bench comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari said, “We direct all the State Boards to ensure that the Schemes are formulated and notified at the earliest and not later than 10 days from today and also declare the results of internal assessment by July 31, which is the time-line specified for CBSE and ICSE.”
“In addition, the Scheme must provide for a proper mechanism for redressal of dispute or grievances of the students after the declaration of results, as has been done in the case of CBSE and ICSE Boards,” the top court said.
The bench further said that as per its previous observation there is no possibility of having a uniform assessment scheme for all boards across the country.
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“We are not going to direct uniform scheme, as each board is autonomous and different,” the bench said.
The top court added, “However, we further make it clear that we are not endorsing the correctness and validity of the proposed Schemes, to be so formulated by the concerned Boards. That will be considered on its own merits, if and when the occasion arises.”
On June 22, the Centre told the Supreme Court that there cannot be any uniform assessment policy for all board examinations, which include those of the CBSE, the ICSE and the state boards.
Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, representing the Centre, told a bench headed by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar that all boards are autonomous bodies, and are empowered to formulate their schemes in connection with the assessment of Class 12 students.
He told the top court that the life of each student is protected by Article 21 of the Constitution, and it is not safe or prudent to have a written exam amid the ongoing pandemic.
The apex court was hearing a PIL filed by advocate Anubha Sahai Shrivastava seeking cancellation of state board examinations in the backdrop of the Covid situation.