MARGAO
Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai has urged the Chairman of Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (GBSHSE) to take necessary steps to ensure that the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board Act 1975 is immediately amended to protect the future of the SSC and HSSC students following the cancellation of the Board examinations.
Sardesai has warned that anything short of an Amendment to the Goa Board Act such as gazette notifications or departmental circulars, shall not stand the test of law and will jeopardise the sanctity and legality of the mark lists and passing certificates issued to these students.
In his letter, he pointed out that the cancellation of the two examinations as announced by the Chief Minister does not have legal and constitutional sanctity as there is no such provision in the existing GBSHSE Board Act or rules.
He said the Goa Forward Party is of the sincere and firm opinion that, as the GBSHSE is a fully autonomous body, the Education Department or any other government functionary does not have any direct role to play in the cancellation of the above examinations, announcement of any new scheme to assign marks & declare results, and issuance of mark lists and passing certificates. “As such, it is incumbent on you, as Chairman of the GBSHSE, to act immediately and judiciously to ensure that, for all practical purposes, the approximately 23,000 SSC candidates and 20,000 HSSC candidates of these 2021 batches are on equal legal footing and considered as equal to regular batches answering normal final examinations,” he said.
