Plea by UP Parents association, Compartment students against CBSE, ICSE assessment policy for Class 12 students: LIVE UPDATES from Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is slated to hear the case concerning the assessment policy to be adopted to assess class 12 students of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) boards after the class 12 examinations of both boards were cancelled due to COVID-19.

The CBSE had, on June 17, submitted an assessment policy before the Supreme Court to compute the marks of class 12 students.

As per the assessment policy, theory portion of the marks will be done based on 40 percent weightage to class 12 marks, 30 percent for class 11 and 30 percent for class 10.

The ICSE had also proposed a scheme to compute marks based on performance of students in the last 6 years.

"We have taken marks from class 10 board, project and practical works, performance in school examination and we have taken the best marks. We have taken average from past six years and not three years like CBSE," counsel for CBSE had told the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court had given-in principle approval to the policies proposed by both CBSE and ICSE.

However, the schemes were opposed by UP Uttar Pradesh Parents Association, Lucknow which said that the policy links the performance of the present 12th standard students with that of the past years' performance of former students and such a system is "wholly arbitrary" and cannot be legally sustained.

The affidavit submitted by the association in response to the CBSE policy, said that as per the proposed policy, the total of 30% from 10th and 11th and 40% from 12th shall not exceed the best marks obtained by ex-students in the said school in the specific reference year by more than 2 marks.

That is, if a present student scores 95% in 10th, 11th and pre-board of 12th in any subject but if in past the maximum obtained by a student in that school is 76, then the maximum which the 95% scoring student will get is 76% plus 2% grace, bringing it to only 78%.

"Such irrational policy of linking the present batch of students with that of past performance of ex-students cannot be legally sustained under any circumstances," an affidavit filed by the association before the top court said.

The policy was also opposed by private and compartment students who took objection to the CBSE decision to hold offline/ physical examinations for them.

The plea stated that CBSE's decision amounts to unequal treatment to private/ patrachar/ 2nd chance compartment candidates of Class 10 and 12 since board exams for regular students have been cancelled by CBSE.

By forcing private/ patrachar/ 2nd chance Compartment candidates to appeal for online examinations, the CBSE is putting their lives at risk, it was contended.

The hearing will start at 11 am. Live updates from the hearing below.