Give Board Exam Schedule For 10-15 Days, CBSE Told Amid Delhi Violence

The Delhi High Court today said class 10 and 12 students, who have board examination centres in violence-hit northeast Delhi, need to be informed in one go about the schedule for the next 10 to 15 days and not on piecemeal basis.

Justice Rajiv Shakdher said the situation in northeast Delhi is getting worse and there have been more deaths and therefore, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) needs to take a call for the next 10 to 15 days.

"The situation there (northeast Delhi) is only getting worse. There have been more deaths. You should give time for the situation to settle down."

"You cannot decide only for tomorrow or day after. Take a call for the next 10-15 days. The children need to know. They cannot wait each day for the next day" the court said and asked the CBSE to come with instructions about a long-term plan at 2.15 pm. "Look at all alternatives, especially with regard to class XII," the court added.

The direction by the court came after the CBSE on Wednesday said the exams in 86 schools in the violence-hit northeast Delhi have been postponed.

It also told the court that for exams scheduled for Thursday, it will take a call in the evening.

The court did not agree with this solution. It also said that police cannot be expected to monitor exam locations only as they have to do riot control activities as well.

"Police is already hard pressed. How will they monitor schools only. What if there is a flash riot somewhere, then police will be in a dilemma whether to leave school or not," the court said.

The court was hearing a plea by a private school, Bhai Parmanand Vidya Mandir, at Surya Niketan in east Delhi, and some of its class 10 and 12 students saying the centre allotted to them by the CBSE was 16 km away from their school and situated in Chandu Nagar-Karawal Nagar road, one of the violence-hit areas.

They said it was hard for them to reach at the Centre due to violent clashes and riots in the area.

They have urged the court to direct the CBSE to change the examination centre from New Sandhya Public School to a centre located in east Delhi district with proper infrastructure and security.

The court on Tuesday, while hearing the matter, had said that safety of children cannot be put at risk and had asked the CBSE to decide at the earliest on rescheduling Wednesday's board exam at the centre in question.

The court had also said that it was of a prima facie opinion that the exam cannot be held at the Chandu Nagar Centre in view of the inputs given by the senior police officials.

The registrar general of the high court on Tuesday had informed the court that as per the inputs of police officials of the area concerned, the situation was tense.

The court had said it was looking at the issue from the aspect of children''s safety which cannot be put at risk.

The plea, filed through advocate Kamal Gupta, said the "violent clashes and riots have posed a serious threat and danger to the life of the students and their parents, in as much as they have no option but to reach the centre come what may be the situation of the area around the centre; reaching the centre not only involves mental agony, trauma and stress for the students and their parents, but also poses grave and palpable threat to the life and limb."

The plea said when the school had come to know about the Centre allotted to it, they had written to the CBSE pointing out that the examination centre is 16 km away from the school and the time taken to reach there is more than 40 minutes.