- SC dismissed petitions by Gulf Class XII students.
- CBSE assured fresh exams for affected students.
- Assessment scheme challenged due to lower marks.
SC On CBSE Gulf Students: The Supreme Court has disposed of a batch of petitions filed by Class XII students from Gulf countries challenging the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) special assessment scheme, introduced after Board examinations in the West Asia region were cancelled amid the prevailing war situation in the Middle East. A Bench of Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice Prasanna B. Varale declined to accept the petitioners' request to allow the affected students to appear for their examinations alongside students scheduled to take the compartment examinations.
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The Court, however, took on record CBSE's assurance that steps would be taken to enable the affected students to appear for a fresh examination at the earliest feasible opportunity, aiming to help them compete in higher studies without further delay.
Why Did Students Move The Supreme Court?
The petitions were filed by students studying in CBSE-affiliated schools in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain. The petitioners challenged the assessment methodology adopted by CBSE for the 2025-26 academic session after Board examinations in several subjects were cancelled due to the geopolitical situation and security concerns in the region.
CBSE's assessment scheme, notified on March 27, 2026, provided for assessment of cancelled papers based on school-level examinations, including quarterly, half-yearly, and pre-board examinations. The petitioners contended that this methodology resulted in marks substantially lower than what many students would have obtained had they taken the regular Board examinations.
What Impact Did This Have On Students?
The plea highlighted consequences for students seeking admission to higher education, particularly under schemes like Direct Admission of Students Abroad (DASA) and Children of Indian Workers in Gulf Countries (CIWG), which prescribe a minimum aggregate of 75 per cent marks for eligibility.
The petitioners also claimed that some students who had qualified in JEE Main were rendered ineligible for admission because of the marks awarded under the special assessment scheme, while others had either been declared failed or placed in the compartment category despite a consistent record of academic performance.
What Did CBSE Tell The Court?
During the proceedings, CBSE told the Court that its overriding concern throughout the episode had been the welfare and academic future of the affected students, defending the March 27 assessment scheme as a good-faith attempt to ensure students did not remain without results due to war-related circumstances.
The Board informed the Court that its policy contemplated a further examination for students dissatisfied with the assessment, to be conducted once conditions in the affected countries became conducive. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta further submitted that CBSE was prepared to facilitate admissions based on provisional or assessed results, provide expedited re-evaluation and verification facilities, and conduct a special examination when feasible, noting that these measures would need to account for 23,052 similarly situated candidates, not just the petitioners.
What Did The Court Decide?
The petitioners had urged the Court to permit the affected students to write the examination alongside students appearing in the compartment examinations, but the Bench accepted the Solicitor General's submission that extending this facility to all affected students was not feasible.
At the same time, the Court recorded the suggestion that the time required for the next examination could potentially be compressed from 82 days to 70 days, leaving it to the respondents to decide whether such a reduction could practically be undertaken.
"We are inclined to dispose of the present writ petitions to enable the writ petitioners to be in a position to compete in the next examination at the earliest point of time, and also facilitate them to compete for higher studies next year," the Bench said in its order passed on July 30, uploaded on August 12.