New Delhi: The Supreme Court on November 18th refused to direct the CBSE and the CISCE to provide the option of hybrid mode, instead of the offline mode only, for the Class 10th and 12th board examinations, saying it would not be appropriate to disturb the process at this stage. The apex court noted that Term-1 board exams of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) have already commenced from November 16th while semester one of the board examination of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) are to commence from November 22nd.
A Bench comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and C.T. Ravikumar was informed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was representing the CBSE that all precautions have been taken for conducting the board exams in offline mode and the examination centres have been increased from 6,500 to 15,000. Now only 12 students will sit in the centre, as opposed to 40 students earlier. Also, the exam duration has been reduced from 3 hours to 90 minutes.
The Bench said it “hopes and trusts” that authorities will take all precautions and measures to ensure that no one is exposed to anything untoward in the examination process. The top court was hearing a plea, filed by six students who would be appearing in the board examinations, seeking directions to the CBSE and the CISCE to issue a revised circular for conducting the ensuing Class 10 and 12 board exams in hybrid mode instead of offline mode only amid the COVID-19 pandemic.