NEW DELHI: Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) on Friday submitted before the Supreme Court its amended notification giving details on how assessment is to be done to give marks to students in subjects for which tests are not going to be conducted.
Exams for both Class 10 and 12 had begun on 15 February but had to be postponed on 18 March, owing to the lockdown.
CBSE told a bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar that those children who opt for taking the examination can do so but the board is not fixing any deadline to it.
“If exams are conducted at any time in future, let the students take a call at that point in time,” CBSE through Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the bench.
CBSE is also likely to declare the result by July 15.
As per the notification, for students who have appeared in exams in more than three subjects, average of the marks obtained in the best three performing subjects will be awarded in the subjects for which examinations have not been conducted.
The other category of students that the board has identified is those who have appeared in only three subjects. For such students, the average of marks obtained in the best two performing subjects will be awarded in the subjects for which examinations have not been conducted.
Finally, there is a category of Class 12 students, mainly from the riot-affected Northeast Delhi region where exams had to be postponed. These students appeared in only one or two exams — their results will be declared based on performance in the appeared subjects and performance in internal/practicals project assessment.
The board said it will offer a chance for students to improve their performance if they wish to. This option, however, is available only to Class 12 students owing to the significance of their marks in various competitive exams.
“Candidates whose results will be declared based on the assessment scheme will be allowed to appear in these optional examinations to improve their performance, if they wish so. However, the marks obtained by a candidate in these optional examinations will be treated as final for those who have opted to take these examinations,” the notification added.
However, ICSE stated it may conduct optional exams even for Class X students since their marking criteria is a bit different from CBSE. The court has asked ICSE to come out with detailed notification in a week’s time.
The court accepted the contentions and disposed of the petitions.