HC seeks CBSE stand on plea on assessment of private Class X students
The Hindu
Board’s counsel sought 10 days’ time
The Delhi High Court has granted time to the Central Board of Secondary Education to respond to a plea concerning the methodology of assessment of private Class X students after the examination was cancelled on account of the pandemic earlier this year. Justice Prateek Jalan, hearing a petition moved by the mother of a private Class X student, passed the order after time was sought by the counsel for the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). “Rupesh Kumar, learned counsel for the Central Board of Secondary Education, seeks ten days’ further time to take instructions on the methodology for assessment of private candidates for the Class X examinations,” the judge recorded in the order dated July 29 as he listed the matter for further hearing on August 23.Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.