KARACHI: Four high courts in the country on Friday dismissed identical petitions challenging physical examinations of A & AS and O Level students to be conducted by the Cambri­dge Assessment Internatio­nal Education (CAIE) in Pakistan despite growing cases of Covid-19.

The students had approa­ched the Sindh High Court in Karachi, Lahore High Court, Peshawar High Court and Islamabad High Court.

The examinations would be held from April 26 for A levels and from May 4 for O levels.

A two-judge bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar ruled that the exams would be held as per the notified schedule and directed the authorities concerned to ensure proper implementation of standard operating procedures during the exams.

After hearing arguments, the SHC dismissed two identical petitions moved by some Cambridge advance level students through a short order whose reasons will be recorded later.

O, A Level students sought school-assessed grades in view of pandemic

The petitioners challenged the National Command and Operation Centre’s (NCOC) decision to allow the CAIE to conduct physical exams for A & AS and O levels and contended that during the pandemic, there was no justification for holding physical examinations in the country.

However, the court said that during course of arguments the lawyer for the CAIE had assured it of protecting the interest of candidates. It referred to a letter CAIE has issued to all principals across the country in which further relaxation has been given to those students not comfortable about taking exams in May/June series who can withdraw their entries and sit in any future exam series without any additional financial burden.

At the same time, the court directed the respondents to ensure strict adherence to the SOPs.

The SHC bench observed that holding physical exams according to notified schedules did not infringe on or intrude any fundamental rights of the petitioners and they could not claim any vested right to evaluate or appraise their credentials and competence by dint of “school assessed grades” and not by means of physical examination.

About the April 18 decision of NCOC, the SHC said in its view the policy decision impugned in these petitions was based on number of circumstances, facts and expert opinion, forethought and premeditation of all pros and cons and it did not seem to be arbitrary, discriminatory or violative of any constitutional, statutory or any other provisions of law.

“Hence, we do not find any justification or rationale to interfere in this policy decision when all arrangements have already been made for physical examination and large number of students throughout the country are geared up to appear in the examination while few students only approached to the court of law for staying the examination and hamper the entire process which is totally unwarranted and prejudicial to the interest of large number of those students who are ready to appear and making preparation religiously”, the SHC concluded.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) also dismissed a similar petition and directed the education authorities to ensure strict implementation of SOPs during the examinations.

A group of students had filed the petition pleading that classes had not been held for the entire academic year and syllabus had not been completed or even covered for the most part yet the petitioners were forced to take exams in a traditional way putting their lives and the lives of their family members in danger.

They said the respondents had announced plans to conduct the exams with the physical presence of the students by putting them in examination halls and rooms.

This was despite the fact that Cambridge had given the option to the governments of the countries experiencing the rising numbers of Covid-19 to switch to avail school-assessed grades, the petitioners said.

They contended that the education ministry and other local authorities had the authority to request Cambridge for school assessed grades.

They asked the court to direct the government to request the British Council and Cambridge to switch from physical exams to school assessed grades option.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) also rejected a separate petition seeking promotion of Cambridge students to the next grades through school-based assessment and without proper examination.

The petitioners requested the court to direct the federal government to send a request to the CAIE to switch from examination-based assessment to school-assessed grades.

They also sought a directive to restrain the authorities from compelling them to take the examinations and asserted that their grievance stemmed from the life threatening crisis relating to Covid-19.

The counsel for the petitioners Qazi Ghulam Dastagir drew the attention of the court to a copy of a document attached with the petition which showed that the CAIE appeared to have adopted a policy to the effect that in countries “where government directives mean that exams cannot take place, the examinations could be switched to school assessed grades using students’ work”.

The court said since the grievance was in the context of Covid-19, the competent forum to consider and formulate the policy in consultation with the stakeholders was the NCOC.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah pointed out that the court had already held that the decisions of the NCOC were binding and not justiciable by a judicial forum.

The court held that it was not the competent forum nor had the expertise to direct the respondents as to what mode should be adopted for assessment of students.

It said the petitioners were at liberty to file a representation before the NCOC. In case, such a representation was received then the NCOC was expected to consider the same and take a decision as it might deem appropriate in the circumstances, the court order stated.

A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court also rejected two similar petitions.

The PHC bench comprising Justice Syed M. Attique Shah and Justice Syed Arshad Ali pronounced a short order after completion of arguments by lawyers appearing for the petitioners and the respondents.

The petitions were filed by Syeda Hajira Haider and some other students, who requested the court to declare illegal the respondents’ decision to hold the physical exams.

The petitioners sought court orders for the respondents to cancel the examinations, insisting that the holding of exams would put them to disadvantage. They requested that the students might be assessed through Teachers Assessed Grades (TAG) system in the country like the other Zone 4 countries.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2021