Court stays move to hold exam for science admissions

Court stays move to hold exam for science admissions

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chandigarh:30.06.2020

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday stayed the decision taken by Board of School Education Haryana to conduct science examination compulsorily for those students who opted for science stream in Class XI.

The science examination of Class X could not be conducted by the board on account of lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic. The court has also issued a notice to the state education board as well as the state government, seeking their response on the issue.

Justice Manjari Nehru Kaul of the HC passed these orders while hearing a petition filed by NISA Education through its president Kulbhushan Sharma and Haryana Private School and Children Welfare Trust. The petitioners challenged the move, citing press notes dated June 7 and June 12, issued by the state education board, directing the students willing to opt for the science stream in Class XI to take an examination. The authorities of schools were also directed to upload the consent of such students for the examination on the website of the board by June 17, failing which the report/result of the students would be treated as ‘zero’.

Pankaj Maini, counsel for the petitioners, submitted that they are primarily aggrieved from the decision taken by the board to hold the examination of science for those students who opted for the subject in Class XI and exempted students of other streams.

According to the counsel, such a decision of board is not only discrimination with students opting for science subject, but also in a situation like pandemic, it would be extremely difficult for the schools to arrange infrastructure to hold the examination.

The HC was also informed that the higher and technical education departments of the state of Haryana has already decided through a notification issued on June 23 to defer the examination to be conducted by the university and colleges of state of Haryana by promoting all the students.

The petitioners submitted that the Board of School Education Haryana can also adopt the same criteria vis-avis the students of secondary examination by declaring their results to protect the students and the schools from facing severe hardship.

The science exam of Class X could not be conducted by the board on account of Covid-19 lockdown