"Unless we are convinced, we will not allow you to conduct State board exams for Class 12:" Supreme Court to Andhra Pradesh

The Supreme Court on Thursday said that it will not allow the Andhra Pradesh government to conduct Class 12 State Board exams unless it is convinced that the exams for 5.20 lakh students can be held without any fatality amid the COVID-19 pandemic. .A Bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari stated the same while hearing a plea to cancel all Class 12 State Board exams. Earlier, the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) had decided to cancel exams owing to the pandemic..[BREAKING] Central government scraps CBSE class 12 board exam for the year 2021.While all States have either conducted or cancelled Class 12 exams already, the State of Andhra Pradesh informed the top court that it would conduct board exams by the end of July..However, the Supreme Court made it clear that it has to be convinced of how precautions will be taken to safeguard students against spread of the virus.."Unless we are convinced that you are prepared to conduct exam without any fatality, till then we will not allow it. Wwhen others have cancelled you cannot hold it to show you are different," said Justice Khanwilkar..Justice Maheswari added, "We are not here for counselling. We know as a responsible government, you are concerned about health and safety of students and staff. If there is a conscious decision, then where is that file and who took that decision? What was the background? It is not the question of exam but health and safety of all.".The top court also directed all State Boards to formulate and notify assessment schemes not later than 10 days from today."We direct all the State Boards to ensure that the Schemes are formulated and notified at the earliest and not later than 10 days from today and also declare the results of internal assessment by July 31, 2021, which is the time-line specified for CBSE and ICSE Boards in terms of our order dated June 22, 2021 passed in Writ Petition(C) No. 522 of 2021," the order said..The two primary reservations expressed by the Bench regarding the stance of Andhra Pradesh were:1. How will the State arrange 34,634 rooms for 5.20 lakh students and from where will the support staff and logistical arrangements be made for the same?2. If exams are held in the last week of July, then when will results be declared? If results come out late, then it would deprive students from applying for admissions..Though Advocate Mahfooz Nazki, appearing for Andhra Pradesh, made it clear that the decision arrived at was a reasoned policy decision, the top court directed the State to file a detailed reply by tomorrow.The Court also asked the State to file details showing which authority took the decision to conduct the exam and why it was done. .Another issue that came up during the hearing concerned Class 11 exams in Kerala.The State indicated that the exams will be conducted in September, whereupon the top court directed the case to be heard by Kerala High Court, if the students file a writ petition in the High Court. "In the present proceeding, we are only on grievance regarding 12th exams of respective boards. Resultantly, we do not wish to examine the grievance of Kerala students who have grievance regarding 11th standard exams. Students are free to file writ in Kerala High Court. Kerala High Court to decide the case on its own merits," the Court ordered..The Court has also made it clear that it will not impose a uniform scheme to be followed by State boards for assessing students. The validity of such schemes may be decided at a later date, if such cases arise, the Bench stated. .The matter will be heard on Friday at 2 PM..[Read a live account of today's hearing].[Read order]