The Central Board of Secondary Education on Thursday informed the Supreme Court about its assessment criteria for Class 12 students and said it would declare the results by July 31, PTI reported. The board exams were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A special vacation bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari accepted the submissions made by the CBSE. Attorney General for India KK Venugopal told the court that the CBSE has designed the formula with a committee of experts.
The CBSE would evaluate students for theory by first giving 30% weightage to average scores obtained by them in Class 10 in their three best performing subjects out of a total five. Secondly, another 30% weightage would be given to marks based on the theory component of the final exam taken in Class 11. Lastly, 40% weightage would be given for marks based on unit tests/mid-term/pre-board exams in Class 12.
It also said that marks uploaded by schools on the CBSE portal for practical and internal assessment would be considered in deciding the final results.
“We have no manner of doubt that this [the assessment scheme] cannot be taken forward,” the bench said. “We have already accepted in principle the decision taken by the boards and placed before us.”
The court said that there should be a forum for redressal mechanism in the scheme itself, adding that a timeline should be given for when the optional exams would be conducted.
“We will certainly do so,” Venugopal responded. “This is the totality of it. We will note down the suggestions and consider them seriously.”
A Class 12 student of Delhi’s Vivekanand School told The Indian Express that inclusion of Class 11 marks can affect final results. “‘I believe that considering the performance of Class 10 and 12 is fair but taking 30% of final exams of Class 11 is not as it often not considered as the most serious academic year,” Anant Jain said.
Ragini Ramanujam, a Class 12 student of Brigade School in Bengaluru, said she was happy with the new criteria. “I did pretty well in 11th, but I know a lot of my friends did not do well at all,” she added. “But the thing is, most of the people I know have already gotten into colleges or are relying on entrance exams, so it doesn’t matter too much anyway.”
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