Published 09:11 IST, August 12th 2020
CBSE compartment exams amid Covid 'sheer violation of Right to Life': 809 students to SC
809 students have approached the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognizance of CBSE's decision to conduct compartment exams amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
With the help of the All India Students' Association (AISA - the students' wing of the CPI), 809 students from across the country have written a letter petition to the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognizance of the decision of conducting compartment exams by CBSE amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The letter states that conducting exams when the number of coronavirus cases is on a constant rise is a 'sheer violation of Right to Life'.
The CBSE's Compartment exam is meant for those students who have failed in one or two subjects, in order to allow them to secure a passing grade. Students are given up to 3 attempts at passing the compartment exam, failing which they are marked as having failed.
'Student's Lives in Jeopardy'
The National General Secretary of the All India Students' Association, Sandeep Saurav, filed the letter petition in the Supreme Court on behalf of 809 signatories. The letter petition is addressed to the Chief Justice of India and other top judges of the Apex court and notifies them about the decision taken by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to conduct compartment exams. These offline exams put the lives of the students, parents, teachers and other non-teaching staff at risk while the coronavirus cases continue to rise in the country, the letter says.
The letter petition filed by the All India Students' Association states that the decision to conduct exams amid the COVID-19 outbreak is a 'sheer violation of the Right to Health which is a part of the Right to Life enshrined in the Constitution of India'. It also states that 'the conduct of compartment examination will expose the examinees to great risk and undeniably sacrifice the basic principle of integrity by neglecting equal basis and treatment to all examinees'. The All India Students' Association has also stated that the decision taken by CBSE is against the MHA guidelines which state that the schools, colleges and educational institutes will remain closed. They have requested the Supreme Court to defer the decision of CBSE to conduct compartment exams until the COVID-19 situation normalises.
This move came after CBSE published an official notice on their website dated 14 July stating that the compartment exams will be conducted. While the scheduled of the compartment exam has not been shared, the students have said that most schools and colleges have given examination deadlines.
COVID-19 in India
India currently has a total of 22,68,675 confirmed COVID-19 cases out of which 6,39,929 are active. 15,83,489 COVID-19 patients have recovered and the coronavirus death toll is at 45,257.
(With inputs from ANI)
Updated 09:11 IST, August 12th 2020