PIL filed seeking direction not to consider 11th std exam

A petition has been filed in the Madras High Court seeking a direction to authorities not to consider the 11th standard marks for college admissions.
When it came up, the court directed the Secretary, state school education department, to take a decision after consulting academicians and others on a representation not to consider the 11th standard marks for college admissions.
The petition was filed by a Puducherry-based advocate S Parimalam.
Disposing of the PIL, the first bench, comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Abdul Quddhose, said the petitioner can submit a representation to the Secretary, School Education department of Tamil Nadu, who in turn can take a decision after consulting experts in the field including academicians, teachers and students.

The matter relates to a government order (G.O) in May last year making it mandatory to calculate the 11th standard marks also for college admissions.
The G.O also directed holding a common public exam for the 11th and 12th standards and said while calculating the higher secondary examination passing out marks, the 11th standard marks would also be taken into consideration.

The petitioner submitted that till date, only plus two (12th standard) marks obtained by students were considered for college admissions.
It was submitted that a state board student would have to face continuously three public exams starting from the 10th standard if the order was implemented.

This would be stressful for students, he said.
Even in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the 11th standard marks are not taken into consideration. Besides, the state board syllabus is not on par with the CBSE, he submitted.
The petitioner prayed for a direction from the court not to consider the 11th standard marks while calculating the passing out marks for college admissions and sought quashing of the government order.