Failing to comply with an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to make special provisions for differently-abled students in the Class 10 and 12 Board examinations this year has landed the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in a spot. Slapped with contempt of court notices, the Board rushed to the Supreme Court on Friday. The appeal has got admitted and will be heard after a week.
On February 23, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the Board to allow differently-abled students to take their 10th and 12th Class Board exams in the schools where they studied and not at the examination centres allocated by CBSE. The order followed a petition filed by the one Jyoti Sehgal, mother of a differently abled minor studying in Class 10, suggesting that differently-abled children have different disabilities that could be visual, physical, or mental. Since they are familiar with the place where they are already studying, the CBSE must provide an exception for such students to take up examinations at their respective schools.
Since examinations were due to start in the first week of March, the HC directed CBSE to expeditiously implement this order across all schools in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. Similar directions were also issued to the respective State boards. On March 6, when the matter was next heard, the petitioner informed the HC that its order was not complied. Furious over the attitude of the CBSE, the bench summoned the Regional Director and Director of CBSE and issued contempt of Court notices on them. In addition, notices of contempt were also issued to Controller of Examinations, CBSE.
Realizing that things could turn for the worse by the next date of hearing in HC, the CBSE came to the Supreme Court seeking protection. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Maninder Singh informed the bench of Justices SA Bobde and lN Rao that the Board was not at fault as the process of examinations starts well in advance and cannot be disturbed at the last minute.
According to the Central Board, there are 205 differently abled students studying in Class-10 in different schools in the States of Punjab, Haryana and Union Territory of Chandigarh, affiliated with the Central Board and the corresponding figure for Class 12 is 170. Haryana Board had submitted to the HC that it has 348 differently abled students studying in Class 10 and 71 in Class 12 in schools affiliated with it. With regard to Punjab, the Punjab Education Board submitted a list of 420 differently abled students studying in Class 10 and 251 in Class 12.
The apex bench issued notice to the respective states and the petitioner before the High Court and directed listing of the case after a week. In addition to allocating exam centres to differently abled students, the HC directed CBSE to prepare a database of all such students across all schools in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. IN addition, the HC even required the Central Board to devise a uniform pattern of syllabus, teaching pattern and question papers, common to all differently-abled students studying in any school across the country.