Plus One Admission : CBSE Student Moves Kerala High Court Challenging State's Bonus Points Policy As Unduly Favouring State Board Students

A Student has moved the Kerala High Court challenging the policy of the State policy to award bonus marks for Plus One Admissions on the ground that it is unduly favouring students from the State Board.

The petition has been moved through Advocates Aji V. Dev and Alan Priyadarshi Dev, challenging the policy of the State to award bonus marks for Plus One Admission on the grounds that it is arbitrary and therefore violative of Articles 14 and 15(1) of the Constitution of India. 

The bench of Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan has issued notice on the matter. 

The petitioner, who is a state topper in the CBSE class X Board examination, sought admission in Government Aided Schools for Class XI and XII. However, when the rank list was published, the petitioner obtained a lower rank as the admission to Plus One classes is based on Weighted Grade Point Average (WGPA), which is calculated on the basis of academic merit and extra-curricular activities engaged by the students and also on the basis of bonus points (BP) awarded to a certain category of students. 

As per the prospectus, the categories of students who are eligible for bonus points include - children of Jawans of Defence Forces who are killed in action, children of Jawans and Ex-Servicemen, students enrolled in NCC, scout guide or student police cadets, members of little KITEs holding A grade certificate, students of the same school, students belonging to the same Grama Panchayath, Municipality or Corporation as that of the School, Students belonging to the same Taluk as that of the school, students who are domiciled in Grama Panchayats with no Government/ Aided Higher Secondary Schools but belonging to the same Taluk as that of the school. 

The petitioner averred that the criteria for granting bonus marks are arbitrary as it discriminates between students who have completed their Secondary School in Kerala State Board and other Boards, including CBSE and ICSE Boards, as students who have completed their Secondary Schooling on Boards other than Kerala State Board cannot avail Bonus Points granted to students of the same school or students who qualify SSLC examination conducted by the Kerala State Board. Both these categories alone qualify for five bonus points each which is highly arbitrary as that preludes students who have completed their Secondary Schooling on Boards other than the Kerala State Board from getting admission in schools of their choice. 

 It is submitted by the petitioner that there is no justification for awarding bonus points as much as it grants bonus points to the students of the same school, same grama panchayat, municipality or corporation and Taluk. The petitioner submits that no schools are offering Higher Secondary Education in the Grama Panchayath in which the petitioner is domicile of. Solely for the reason that there are no government/aided schools in her Grama Panchayat, the petitioner is losing two bonus marks.

It is also pointed out that the students who volunteer for NCC, Scouts and Guides, Student Police Cadets and Little KITEs are awarded grace marks apart from the bonus marks, which is arbitrary and affects other meritorious students, contends the petitioner.

Furthermore, the petitioner submitted that the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights had previously issued directives to the 2nd respondent to stop the practice of giving bonus points for higher secondary admission. The Commission, in order, ordered that the bonus marks given for 'students from the same school' be avoided and that the students who excelled in arts, science, mathematics, and work experience fairs, National Cadet Corps, Student Police Cadets, Scouts and Guides or Little KITEs need not be awarded bonus points since they're already being awarded grace marks along with SSLC marks.

Petitioner also submits that there is no justification for awarding bonus points as it makes an unreasonable classification. There is no intelligible differential, which results in unequal treatment of the equals. Since there is no transparency in the admission procedure adopted by the respondents, it is impossible for the petitioner to verify the basis on which she was awarded the rank. 

Case Title: Lakshmi Sajeev v. State of Kerala & Ors.