CBSE Class 12 exams 2021: SC Reverses Process of Finalising Improvement Exam Scores
Students who took the improvement exams were admitted based on their initial scores, which the Supreme Court ruled should not be impacted.
The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a provision in the CBSE’s evaluation policy from June last year that said that marks received in subsequent examinations would be considered final in evaluating class 12 students.
According to a bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and C T Ravikumar, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) shall provide an option for the candidate to accept the better of the two marks obtained in the subject for the final declaration of his or her results for the previous academic year.
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The Supreme Court observed that a complaint had been filed over clause 28 of the June 17, 2021 policy, which stated that “scores earned in subsequent tests will be regarded definitive.” The Supreme Court was considering a petition filed by some pupils who took the CBSE examinations last year in order to improve their class 12 grades.
“As a result,” the bench stated, “we have no trouble striking down the condition set forth in section 28 that scores gained in successive tests be regarded final.”
The petitioners argue that this condition was added in contrast to earlier systems that only took into account the better of two marks earned by a candidate in a topic when determining final results.
According to the study, the CBSE has not provided any justification for such a disparity.
The CBSE class 12 board exams were cancelled last year due to the pandemic.
In dismissing the petition, the court ruled that the policy was required due to the tough situation that students were in, and that this alone warranted enacting a more favourable provision for them.
The CBSE’s legal counsel declared right after that these students had been assessed based on the improvement exams and were no longer eligible under the scheme.
“How does it affect you?” says the narrator. The bench remarked, “Give us a reason why this isn’t conceivable.”
The Supreme Court said last month that the CBSE should take into account the condition of students who took the exams last year to enhance their results in class 12 but earned lower grades, as this could affect their admissions to higher education.
Students who took the improvement exams were admitted based on their initial scores, which the Supreme Court ruled should not be impacted.
The Supreme Court was hearing a plea filed by 11 students who were certified passed in their original results by the CBSE based on the 30:30:40 evaluation policy and then allowed to take the improvement examinations in August and September of last year.
Counsel Ravi Prakash filed the petition, requesting that the authorities preserve the petitioners’ initial results rather than the improvement examination results.
According to a CBSE news release, 34,317 regular students took the offline examinations to improve their marks.
On June 17 of last year, the Supreme Court approved the assessment schemes of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) and the CBSE, which had adopted the 30:30:40 formula for evaluating marks for students in the 12th standard based on results from classes 10, 11, and 12, respectively.
The CBSE had previously said that class 12 students would be evaluated for theory based on 30% of their marks from the class 10 board, 30% of their marks from class 11, and 40% of their marks from the unit, mid-term, and pre-board tests.
It had indicated that scores earned by class 12 students in real-time practical and internal evaluations, as reported by schools to the CBSE portal, would be factored into final results.
