Supreme Court stays Kerala Govt decision to conduct Class 11 exams

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the decision of the Kerala Government to conduct offline exams for Class XI (Plus One) from September 6 amid the rising cases of COVID. The court ordered the exams be paused for a week, saying: "Children of tender age can't be exposed to the risk (of contracting the virus)".

A bench comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar noted that COVID cases are continuing to rise in Kerala, with over 30,000 cases being reported daily, which accounts for nearly 70% of the national cases.

The bench wondered if the Kerala Government has taken into account this fact while deciding to conduct offline exams.

Justice Roy underlined the seriousness of the issue by pointing out Kerala "has one of the best medical infrastructures... but has not been able to contain Covid cases".

"I have been Chief Justice of Kerala and I can say Kerala has one of the best medical infrastructures in the country. Despite that, Kerala has not been able to contain Covid cases," he said.

Offline Class 11 exams were scheduled to begin from September 6.

The court was responding to a petition that challenged the decision of the Kerala High Court to not interfere with the state government's proposal to hold offline exams.

Children (all those below 18) have not yet begun receiving Covid vaccines in India, despite fears over inadequate paediatric facilities if the third wave of infections targets them.

Last week Dr NK Arora, chief of the government's Covid panel, said the Zydus Cadila shot (approved for kids between 12 and 17 years old) would be rolled out in October.