New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to pass directions to CBSE and ICSE to hold board exams in hybrid mode. The court said that exams have already started and it won't be appropriate to interfere now.
The court said that it has been assured that all special operating procedures regarding Covid will be followed, and in case of any shortcoming, the in charge of the centre can be informed and measures will be taken immediately.
The bench comprising of Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice C.T. Ravikumar was hearing the petition by students who contended that the pandemic is not over yet and there are many students with co-morbidities so it would not be safe to hold physical exams.
The court said that if they would have come earlier then the grounds could have been tested but now at the end moment it's too late to interfere. Conducting exams for 34 lakh students would also lead to a lot of chaos, said the court.
Also read: CBSE to conduct board examination in new pattern from Nov 16
"Don't mess up with the education system, let authorities do their job well. If you can contribute to their job then do that," said J. Khanwilkar.
Solicitor General, Tushar Mehta, appearing for CBSE assured the court that all precautions are in place. He said that only 12 students are being allowed to sit per class instead of the 40 allowed earlier. Mehta said that the number of examination centres has also been increased from 6,500 to 15,000 which would reduce the travel time as students would have their home nearer to the centre. Timings of the exams have also been reduced from 3 hours to 90 minutes.
