'Online Classes Not Very Effective' : 48 Kerala Students Approach Supreme Court Against Offline Plus One Exams

48 students residing in rural as well as coastal regions of Kerala have approached the Supreme Court raising concerns about the upcoming Class XIth (Final Year) Plus One exam in offline mode.

The petitioners state that they are not having any access to online education

Filed through Child rights activist Anubha Shrivastava Sahai and students rights activist Anand Padmanabhan, the students seek intervention in the Special Leave Petition challenging Kerala High Court's order dated August 27, 2021 of upholding the State's notification and confirming the scheduling of final year Plus One Exam from September 6, 2021 to September 16, 2021.

The application has been drawn and filed by Advocate Shashibhushan P Adgaonkar.

It has been argued in the application that due to CoVID 19 pandemic, tutoring for classes XIth and XIIth were being conducted online and due to poor electronic connectivity, network range issues, and non availability of electronic devices, studies of majority students from rural and coastal area has been affected and even there are other students in the school who suffer the same handicaps.

"In Spite of the heavy surge in the cases of Covid 19 in all over the State of Kerala, the State Government has decided to conduct the Plus One exam physically. By conducting offline exams the Government will be putting the lives of Students, teachers and other staff at risk. The Government must take a call now for the 11th Board like the other State Boards have done for the 12th & 10th Board," the application states.

The students have also contended that they have not been able to attend online classes due to residing in coastal and rural areas where internet connectivity is very low.

Averring that scheduling final year exams of plus one while classes for XII are going on will result in untold misery to students, the applicants have contended that online classes are not very effective and gives an unfair advantage to the students who are better placed and financially well off.

The application also highlights that during discussions in assembly, the digital divide prevailing in the state was highlighted and although it was assured that no efforts shall be spared to bridge the divide, nothing worthwhile has happened.

On September 3, 2021, the Supreme Court had granted interim relief of temporarily staying the offline examination of Plus One Students, scheduled to start from September 6. The Court had adjourned the hearing to September 13 asking the State's Counsel to get instructions. The instant intervention application contended that Kerala Government may take decision to conduct online exam or may decide to have some formula of assessment as done in CBSE, ICSE and Board Class XII students.

Therefore in light of the submissions, the application stated that the applicants have serious objections due to the non-availability of proper internet network and electronic equipment such as Mobile, Laptop or Computer for online examination and seek intervention.

Case Title: Rasoolshan A v. The Addl Chief Secretary and others, SLP(C) 13570/2021).