After cancellation of the Class 12th Board Exams, concerns have now been raised over conduct of IIT-JEE, CLAT, NDA and more such exams in physical mode. Challenging the decision of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) to cancel the Class 12th Board Exams, a plea was filed before the Supreme Court on Monday (June 21).
However, in a major decision, the apex court quashed all petitions regarding cancellation of CBSE and ICSE exams & change in the marking scheme. Today (June 22), petitions related to CBSE, ICSE, and state board exams including cancellation of CBSE compartment exams, plea challenging cancellation of CBSE and ICSE exams, and adoption of uniform criteria for state boards were scheduled for hearing. Petitioner Anshul Gupta sought directions from the Court to CBSE and ICSE to explore the possibility of conducting Class 12 exams, rather than cancelling them. Gupta stated that Class 12 exams are very critical for the students and will impact admission for courses like IIT, NDA, MBBS, CLAT, etc.
Moreover, the petitioner also contended that even if Class 12 Board Exams were cancelled, the same students will have to appear physically for competitive examinations like the IIT-JEE, CLAT, NDA etc. The petitioner questioned how Class 12th exams for these mstudents are a threat and other exams aren't. However, the SC Bench responded that each board is different. It mentioned that the decision has been taken by highest authorities and is a well informed decision. On exploring possibilities of Class 12 exams, the SC Bench noted that reversing the decision would put lakhs of students under uncertainty.
A larger decision needs to be taken which was also taken last year. Government has already taken a decision and thereafter we endorsed it, the Bench said. As per reports, the April May session of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main 2021 were postponed in the view of COVID-19 surge across the country. Apart from JEE, many other professional and entrance exams were also deferred. The National Testing Agency (NTA) which conducts JEE is expected to announce new dates and the revised schedule for April and May session by the end of June.