NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the state boards to declare internal assessment results of Class 12 examination by July 31, making it clear that there can’t be a “fit-all” scheme and each board was autonomous and free to formulate its own evaluation method for students.
Stating that it will not pass any direction for having a uniform scheme for assessment across the country, the apex court directed the state boards to ensure that scheme be formulated at the earliest and not later than 10 days from Thursday.
A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari observed that each board will have to evolve their own scheme.
“We direct the boards to ensure that the scheme be formulated at the earliest and not later than 10 days from today and also declare the internal assessment results by July 31, 2021, like the time line specified for CBSE and CISCE,” the bench said in its order.
The top court was hearing a plea which has sought directions to states to not hold board examinations in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We make it clear that each board may formulate their own scheme. However, we further make it clear that we are not endorsing the correctness and validity of scheme that will be formulated by the concerned board…,” the bench said.
During the hearing conducted through video-conferencing, the bench was told by an advocate appearing in the matter that state boards which have cancelled the class 12 examinations amid the pandemic may be asked to have a uniform scheme for assessing students.
“That may not be acceptable because every state board has their own scheme. It cannot be uniform. We are not going to direct for uniform scheme. Each board will have to evolve their own scheme,” the bench said, adding that each board is different and autonomous. It said each state boards have experts to advise them and there cannot be a uniform all India scheme for this. —PTI

Press Trust of India