The State through Senior Advocate Kamat argued that the exams which are being held are not board examinations in the strictest sense but only a ‘summative assessment’ that students are not required to pass.
The government scheme is that no student can be detained based on these exam while at the same it would allowing them to be assessed, he added.
The Bench then asked what purpose exams would serve, to which Kamat replied that it prepares students academically and also ensure that they would be able to face the actual board exam.
Kamat stressed that the single-judge’s order staying the exams was patently illegal as the State is the competent authority to conduct summative assessments which is a policy matter.
Further, Section 16 of Right to Education Act calls for such exams, he said.
“What is imparted in classrooms may not be up to standards and we have to thus assess”.
Justice Mithal then remarked,
“You have spoiled the entire examination system in the State, and now you are trying to amend”.
“Board exams, anyways a scare is there among students,” Justice Trivedi weighed in.
Source: Barandbench
