A group of parents, whose children have to appear for the Class XII board examination, have moved the Supreme Court challenging the CBSE's decision to conduct the remaining board examinations from July 1-15.
Criticising the CBSE's decision on the schedule of the remaining examinations, the petitioners argued that it demonstrated the extent of discriminatory and arbitrary conduct of the CBSE in issuing the notification for holding the remaining examinations in the month of July, because as per the AIIMS data, the Covid-19 pandemic would be at its peak then.
The parents claimed that if students were to step out to appear for exams in July, their health safety may be compromised.
The petitioners urged the apex court to direct CBSE to declare the results on the basis of the examinations already conducted and to calculate the results on an average basis with internal assessment marks for the remaining subjects, and also stay the decision to commence the examinations from July 1.
The petition cited that on May 25, the Ministry of Human Resource and Development had announced conducting of the exams for Class X and XII in almost 15,000 exam centres as against 3,000 centres which were used earlier.
"Ensuring proper cleanliness and safety standards as prescribed by the concerned government in the wake of the Covid-19 situation in those 15,000 exam centres spreading over length and breadth of the country including rural sectors would not only be risking the health and life of the children, but would also be an exercise in futility and an eyewash," said the petition.
The petition contended that cases in India are rising dramatically and currently there are close to 3,00,000 Covid-19 cases.
"Moreover, even if it is to be assumed that 50 per cent of the cases are asymptomatic, the students appearing for the exams could also be potential careers themselves, posing a great risk to the other family members and themselves," contended the petitioners.
The petitioners said that it is also not practically possible for every parent to afford a private vehicle to send their wards to appear for the exams at different centres, and by hiring public transports, the risk of contamination would be the highest.
( With inputs from IANS )