The CBSE informed the Supreme Court on Monday that optional exams for Class 12 students unhappy with their assessment will be held “anytime between” August 15 and September 15.
The CBSE clarified that results after the assessment would be declared by July 31.
The Board, in a short additional affidavit, told the court that Class 12 exams for private/patrachar/second chance compartment candidates would also be conducted between August 15 and September 15 in accordance with the assessment policy for the academic year 2019-2020.
Assessment Policy
“Their examinations shall be conducted in such a manner that they will fall within the Assessment Policy for the Academic Year 2019-2020 as approved by this court… Their results shall be declared in accordance with the said Assessment Policy. Their examinations shall also be conducted anytime between 15.08.2021 to 15.09.2021, subject to conducive situation,” the affidavit read.
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This is when over 1,100 CBSE students have already approached the court seeking the cancellation of compartment, private and repeat exams for Class 12 this year. These petitions have urged the court to direct evaluation through an assessment formula in line with the regular CBSE students.
The CBSE affidavit said it has issued a ‘Policy for Tabulation of Marks for Class XII Board Examination 2021’ to ensure standardisation of marks.
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“Marks of Classes 11 and 12 components will be awarded at school level. Therefore, they will strictly not be comparable across schools due to variations in the quality of question papers, the evaluation standard and processes, the mode of conduct of exams, etc. To ensure standardisation, each school will have to internally moderate the marks to account for the school level variations by using a reliable reference standard,” the CBSE said.
Reliable reference standard
The Board said a “reliable reference standard” was necessary in the “interest of fairness and to ensure that marks allocated are comparable and there is no adverse impact or undue gain for any student because of the methodology/process of evaluation used by individual schools”.
In a hearing on Monday before a Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, senior advocate Vikas Singh, who is arguing for the conduct of physical exams, said there should be uniform criteria for assessment for CBSE and ICSE marks.
But Justice Khanwilkar said apples and oranges cannot be mixed.
He referred to how school performance in past years would also influence marks, saying students’ performances should be based on their own work and not of past batches.
Mr. Singh said the current assessment policy of the CBSE was complicated and physical exams should be held as the COVID-19 situation was getting better.
But Justice Khanwilkar said the future of students cannot be rendered uncertain. “They need to have some ray of hope,” Justice Khanwilkar said. The court said it would not modify its order clearing the assessment policy proposed by the CBSE and the ICSE.
