CBSE Assessment Scheme for Gulf Students Under Supreme Court Scrutiny
The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought responses from the Union Government and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on a petition challenging the Board's assessment scheme for regular Class XII students in Gulf countries. The examinations there were cancelled earlier this year due to the conflict in West Asia.
Appearing for nearly 30 regular students from the Gulf region, counsel submitted before a Bench of Justices K. V. Viswanathan and Alok Aradhe that the assessment scheme has caused serious prejudice by evaluating students solely based on school-level quarterly, half-yearly, and pre-board examinations for papers that could not be conducted.
Issuing notice on the petition, the Bench directed that a copy be served on the office of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and posted the matter for further hearing on July 14.
The petitioners, who studied in CBSE-affiliated schools across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman, contended that the retrospective application of the assessment scheme significantly reduced the aggregate marks of several students. As a result, some have been placed in the compartment category, while others, despite a consistent academic record, have lost eligibility for admission to premier institutions.
"Historically, students demonstrate significant improvement between pre-board assessments and the actual board examinations after focused preparation during the final months of Class XII," the petition stated.
The petition, filed through advocate Vineet Jindal, assails the assessment scheme as "arbitrary, unreasonable and violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution." It argues that the scheme is arbitrary and contrary to the doctrine of legitimate expectation.
The court was further apprised that the consequences were particularly severe for students seeking admission to professional courses. Class XII marks constitute a crucial eligibility criterion under schemes such as the Direct Admission of Students Abroad (DASA) and the Children of Indian Workers in Gulf Countries (CIWG), both of which require a minimum aggregate of 75%.
"Many such students are unable to satisfy the prescribed eligibility criteria or secure admission opportunities commensurate with their merit and JEE performance. Consequently, students who have otherwise demonstrated academic competence and successfully cleared a highly competitive national examination are being denied access to higher education solely due to circumstances beyond their control," the petition stated.
The petitioners have accordingly sought several reliefs, including a one-time grant of compensatory moderation or grace marks, a special improvement examination with a "better of the two" safeguard, the constitution of a transparent review mechanism, a one-time relaxation of the minimum eligibility requirement under the DASA scheme from 75% to 60%, a similar relaxation under the CIWG scheme, and protection for admissions already sought by the affected students.
Under the assessment scheme, students whose examinations were cancelled were evaluated based on their theory performance, and practical as well as internal assessment marks, with schools required to furnish performance data from the quarterly, half-yearly and pre-board examinations. For subjects carrying 80 or 70 theory marks, the best score obtained in the quarterly, half-yearly or final pre-board examination will be considered. For subjects carrying 60, 50 or 30 theory marks, the marks obtained in the final pre-board examination will form the basis of assessment. Where a student was absent from the final pre-board examination, marks obtained in an earlier pre-board examination will be taken into account.
