Queency Jain –
After the Kerala State Board announced to conduct physical exams for Class XI in September and various petitions were filed against the same, the Supreme Court has refused to entertain such petitions and had asked the petitioners to approach the Kerala High Court.
The petitions were refused on the ground that the Supreme Court is only hearing petitions focusing on grievances of Class XII students while the Class XI students are free to approach the Kerala High Court for their issues.
The decision comes in an intervening application filed by the Child Rights Activist Advocate Anubha Shrivastava Sahai against the State Board Exams for class XII.
During the hearing, the petitioner argued that the marks of Class XI this year will make an impact on the admissions that will take place in 2022.
The same was rejected and it was contended by the advocate on the behalf of the State Board that no exams of Class XI will have any bearing on the admissions as admissions are to be given only if a student takes Class XII.
Though it was argued that it is unfair to ask students to give exams for Class XI at the time where the Class XII online classes have already started, the counsel on behalf of petitioners suggested providing at least 3 months of time to the students before conducting their exams.
While the contention of 3 months was rejected by the Court, the Court sought a response from the State Board regarding the issue.
The Court held that the 3 month relaxation is unreasonable because once the students have studied the syllabus, there must not be extra allotment of time, just the suspension of classes at the time of exams is sufficient.
In conclusion, the Court held that they are concerned with grievances of class XI for now and will only entertain the petitions and contentions raised over Class XII exams.