No role of ministry in moderation policy row, says Prakash Javadekar

New Delhi: HRD minister Prakash Javadekar categorically denied his ministry intervening in the ongoing moderation policy row and said any “change” should not be “abruptly” implemented in middle of academic session.

Moderation policy refers to a practice in which students get extra marks in subjects regarded ‘unusually difficult’, or if there have been differences in the sets of question papers.

“We will not intervene in the moderation policy issue. It is an academic call which the boards need to take,” Mr Javadekar said in an interview.

The HRD minister’s comments came against the backdrop of an order by Delhi high court directing CBSE to continue with the moderation policy, which was scrapped last month after CBSE along with 32 other boards formed a consensus on the issue.

CBSE was earlier believed to have been considering challenging the high court order but was advised against it by legal counsel that moving the Supreme Court may be counter- productive and could also delay results.

While CBSE declared its results for class XII examination today after following the moderation policy, there is no clarity about the fate of the six state boards — Rajasthan, Karnataka, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Haryana — which announced their result prior to the Delhi HC order as their students may suffer in undergraduate admissions.
    
“Boards had taken a decision in consultation with each other, they will decide further. But I believe that for any change to be implemented, it is not wise to do it abruptly mid way but from next academic year,” he said.

Delhi High Court had also said that the decision by the CBSE “would have a drastic effect on the students” and “rules can’t change once the game has begun”.