Ever since the countries globally witnessed the Covid-19 pandemic, education sector continues to be at the receiving end. The Higher and Senior Secondary examinations which are considered to be of paramount significance in a student’s educational journey in India are thus seen to have been in robust discussions in not just the Parliament but have emerged as matters of grave concern for the respective states, state educational boards, the Central Board of Secondary Education, Indian Certificate of Secondary Education and the National School of Open Schooling.
Now that the closing semesters have begun, and the students had to bear the brunt of virtual learning even in the past semester, the ordeal of offline examination has again been taken up to the court for its perusal.
The writ petition concerning the cancellation of online examinations has been listed for an urgent hearing by Advocate on record Prashant Padmanabhan. The matter has been listed before the Supreme Court for 23rd February 2022 before the bench of Justice AM Khanwilkar. The objective is to cancel any physical examinations for class 10th and 12th. Bench of Justice AM Khanwilkar has passed many such orders regarding cancellation of physical examinations in the past years of distress.
The Counsel Prashant Padmanabandh is of the opinion that in the absence of any certainty and regular offline classes, it is highly unfair to call for an offline examination even though now the pandemic has moved towards a manageable end.
The Counsel Prashant Padmanabandh requested urgent hearing as few state board examinations have already commenced since the 17th of this month. Justice AM Khanwilkar directed The Counsel to serve copies of the petition to the standing counsel of the Central Board of Secondary Education first and not to the state Governments yet.
The well known Child Rights Activist Anubha Srivastava Sahai has filed the present writ petition and has urged that an alternate mode of examinations be decided upon rather than compelling the students to appear for offline examinations. Activist Anubha through her petition has also pursued that even students towards the brim of the marking scheme be considered through a comprehensive continuous assessment of the previous year
In the few years that have gone by students have witnessed massive challenges spread widely in all spheres of life. From the loss of family members to the shift in study patterns it has not been the most fun filled journey for them as well. It would be absurd to expect them to radically shift back to normalcy. A steady pace will any day be a pragmatic approach.
Case Title: Anubha Srivastava Sahai v. Union of India and Others.
