Don't Publish Entrance Exams Results For Professional Courses : Kerala High Court Passes Interim Order On CBSE/ICSE Students' Plea

The Kerala High Court on Monday directed the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations to refrain from publishing the rank list before disposal of the petition that sought to admit students to professional courses and other streams based solely on the basis of their scores in the entrance exams rather than considering the results of the Grade XII examinations. 

Justice P. B Suresh Kumar issued this interim order while listing the matter for further consideration to next week. 

Petitioners are Grade XII students aggrieved by the method of admission given to professional and graduate courses offered by various Universities in the State. 

As per the notification issued by the Commissioner of Entrance Exams, for the preparation of the rank list, an equal weightage of 50: 50 will be given to the score obtained in the entrance examination and the marks obtained in the Grade XII after standardization. 

This apparently caused great concern to the students enrolled in CBSE and ISE schools for the reason that even if standardization was done, it cannot give a satisfactory result. They alleged that the 50% of marks obtained in 12th was patently erroneous and does not serve the purpose for which the ratio is provided.

'The unequals cannot be made equals by standardization', the plea read.

Similarly, admission to Degree courses in various Arts and Science Colleges in the State was also to be decided based on the marks secured by students in Grade XII examinations alone. This was contended to be detrimental to the students enrolled in CBSE and ISE schools. 

Therefore, the petitioners had submitted that the most appropriate method will be to give admissions to professional courses and other streams based on their performance in the entrance examination alone for this academic year.

Repeated representations to this effect had been submitted before the concerned authorities, according to the petitioners. However, no action whatsoever was initiated by the respondents in this regard.  

With the entrance examinations fast approaching, the petitions sought the indulgence of the Court to make sure that the admissions will be done purely on the basis of the marks secured in the entrance examination alone.

Senior Advocate KP Satheesan appeared for the petitioners while Additional Advocate General Ashok M Cherian represented the respondents in the matter. 

Factual Background: 

Owing to the pandemic, CBSE schools and ISC schools in the State had not conducted final examinations for Grades X and XII. The evaluation procedure for Grade XII students was still under consideration by the Centre. 

As per the latest proposal by the Centre, the qualifying marks are to be calculated on the basis of the scores secured by each student during the previous three classes namely classes IX, X, and XI. However, the petitioners submitted that this was not confirmed either. 

They contended that their results were therefore not evaluated based on their academic performance in Grade XII alone, while students enrolled in State schools had given final exams, the results of which will reflect their performance in this Grade alone. 

The petition also alleged that the State Board examinations did not evaluate the skill and knowledge of the students for the reason that for a 60 mark exam, they were given a 120 mark question paper, without any restriction on the number of questions a student can attempt. 

Therefore, the primary grievance of the petitioners was that students studying in CBSE/ISC will have a different method of evaluation than ones in the State Board. They contended that this would put them to prejudice in the admission process to several universities in the State.

Case Title: Salvia Hussain (Minor) and others v. State of Kerala & Ors.

Click Here To Read The Order