States Decision Sparring Grace Marks This Academic Year Gets Nod From Kerala HC For Board Exams

CASE BACKGROUNDS

• On Thursday the Kerala High Court approved with the Government’s Order to scrape the policy of offering grace marks to students in standard tenth and twelfth in the State Board exams, for the academic year 2020-2021.
• The Division Bench including Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly had done some hearing about the events and then approved with the Order specified by the Government and disposed of a lot of petitions which were stimulating the State’s decision.
• Typically, grace marks are on the condition that for extracurricular achievements along with Scouts and Guides, National Cadet Corps, Student Police Cadet, State Youth Festival, Junior Red Cross, National Science Fair, Sports, and National Service Scheme
• In the beginning of this year, the Directorate of General Education had delivered a letter which was dated as 29th June 2021 which put onwards its selection to now no extending to award grace marks to school students performing for State Board Examinations, thinking about that the facilities had remained closed withinside the instructional year because of the pandemic.

CASE PROCEEDINGS

• Consequently, aggrieved college students had moved the Court asking for its interference in the matter. A college students' business enterprise primarily based totally in Kerala, had additionally filed a PIL on behalf of the scholars aggrieved with the aid of using the selection of the State General Education Department.
• Advocate Manas P. Hameed represented the petitioners earlier than the Court if now no longer on the graduation of the academic year.
• The Union additionally submitted that scholars who had laboured and studied for the exams.
• According to the petition, the SPC, NCC, JRC, and the Scouts and Guides had helped the government include the pandemic. The petitioners submitted that that they'd performed a critical position in imparting offerings to the needy for the duration of the lockdown withinside the wake of the countrywide disaster that observed the outbreak of Covid-19.
• Hence, they asserted that the selection of the State became arbitrary and unsustainable for the cause that the stated disciplined voluntary groups carried out numerous packages amidst the pandemic.

CASE RELEVANCE

• They similarly contended that the authorities became accountable to tell such modifications nicely in advance, as a minimum earlier than accomplishing the very last examination, if now no longer on the graduation of the instructional yr.
• The Union additionally submitted that scholars who had laboured tough for the grace marks had been now undergoing intellectual trauma and agony because of this unexpected alternate in coverage.
• However, the State justified its pass mentioning that faculties had remained closed for the duration of 2020 -2021 because of the pandemic and therefore extra-curricular sports had been purportedly now no longer carried out for the duration of the aforementioned academic year.

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