Kochi: Kerala Government's decision to consider only the plus-two marks for admissions to engineering courses has been conveyed to the High Court.
Additional Advocate General Ashok M Cherian stated that a scheme to assess the plus-two marks of the CBSE and ICSE boards this year has been approved by the Supreme Court, and there is nothing wrong in considering this mark for engineering admissions.
Cherian, who appeared on behalf of the state government, said this in the Kerala High Court during a hearing on the petitions that sought the admission to professional courses be conducted only on the basis of the entrance exam this year and the plus-two marks should not be considered.
The government also contended that those who were not satisfied with the assessment of marks based on the SC-approved scheme had the opportunity to write the improvement exam.
But the advocates of some students replied that the Supreme Court had approved the scheme only for the declaration of plus-two results in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CBSE and ICSE plus-two exams were cancelled due to the pandemic. In this scenario, the CBSE school managements' association and students Salvia Hussain, Sibi Wilson, and Priyanka Thomas had filed the petitions.
As per the prospectus, the admission is based on the marks of the plus-two and entrance exam.
Justice P B Suresh Kumar will consider the case again on Thursday.
Can the deadline be extended?
The court has instructed the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to inform on Thursday whether the deadline for completing the engineering first allotment can be extended.
If the AICTE extends the October 25 deadline, the government will extend the September 17 deadline for uploading the plus-two marks, the additional AG stated.
Some of the petitioners had sought arrangements to facilitate the uploading of marks of the ICSE and CBSE improvement exams.
The ICSE improvement exam results are expected to be declared on September 20 and CBSE on September 30.