The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Central Board of Secondary Education to continue with its marks “moderation policy” for students who are awaiting their Class 12 Board exam results. In its interim order, the court said that the policy was in place when Class 12 students had filled up their examination application forms last year, reported Hindustan Times.
According to the policy, students are usually given up to 15% extra or “grace” marks for attempting tough questions in examinations.
The bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Pratibha M Singh passed the interim order after a parent and a lawyer opposed the CBSE’s notification, issued in April, which had scrapped the policy. As many as 10,98,981 students had enrolled for Class 12 exams this year. The CBSE is likely to declare the Class 12 results by the end of the month. However, Tuesday’s verdict may delay the results, according to NDTV.
The court’s interim order came a day after the court had said that the CBSE’s decision to scrap its marks moderation policy was “unfair” and “irresponsible”. The bench on Monday had asked why the policy could not be implemented again from the next academic year, as the results for 2016-2017 exams were expected to be out in a few days. The CBSE’s decision will have a “drastic” effect on the students, the High Court bench added.
In April, the CBSE and 31 other school boards had announced they would scrap the policy allowing up to 15% extra marks for students who attempted difficult questions in examinations. These inflated scores have, in turn, forced colleges to set their cut-off marks at 100%. However, the Board said the practice of giving grace marks would continue if a student needed just a few marks to clear an examination. These extra marks would then be disclosed on the candidate’s marksheet, they had said.
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