Bengaluru, July 12:The Karnataka High Court Today dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the decision of the state government to conduct the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examination 2020-21, clearing the decks for holding the exams.

A division bench headed by Justice B V Nagarathna observed that the petitioner was not able to show any arbitrariness in the decision taken by the state government.

As per the standard operating procedures (SOP) issued by the state government on June 21, 2021, SSLC examinations are scheduled on July 19 and 22. The petition was filed by one S V Singre Gowda, a resident of Bengaluru. It claimed that since all the students and most of the teachers have not been vaccinated, it will not be safe to hold examinations. The petitioner said over nine lakh students will be exposed to the risk of Covid-19 infection.

However, the court said that the Karnataka government cannot compel students to attend, as parents and their children would collectively decide on this issue.

The bench agreed with the state government’s submission that the decision to hold the board examination was a collective decision involving both the students and the parents. As per the decision, the examination will be conducted in an encapsulated format with three subjects on each day for the duration of one hour per subject. The subjects contain objective-type questions which are student-friendly, the court noted.

The bench also said that it will be in the interest of the students that they attend a crucial examination such as the board examination, instead of being just promoted as ‘pass’.

However, Advocate-General Prabhuling K Navadgi pointed out that all the students, who appear for the two-day SSLC exams, would be promoted even if they failed to secure minimum marks. The exams are being planned based on the recommendation of the Technical Advisory Committee and by adopting a Standard Operating Procedure to safeguard the health of students attending the exams and the teachers.

Stating that the High Court and Supreme Court had upheld the conduct of SSLC exams in 2020 with SOP, the A-G said that the COVID-19 positivity rate is only around 1.48 percent at present.

As the government canceled the final exam for II PU students and decided to promote them based on marks obtained in SSLC or equivalent exams, and I PU final exam promotion without holding exams, the similar benefit should have been extended to SSLC students, who are younger in age, the petitioner had argued.

Even the Class 10 exams of CBSE and ISCE were canceled for the academic year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and all the students were promoted, the petitioner submitted.

Conducting the exams in a new format will not offer more benefit to students, the petitioner argued while pointing out that neither all the teachers nor the students have been vaccinated. (UNI)