Schools are expected to send marks from exams conducted in the past two years in Classes XI and XII so Class XII students, whose board exams have been scrapped, can be assessed, ISC school heads said they were told in a meeting with the council on Friday.

In case a student could not write a paper, the school has to calculate the student’s average marks from the exams he or she had written, several school heads said. They will not get a zero in that test but an average of the other exams they wrote will be calculated, a principal said.

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) had called for an online meeting of heads of schools presenting candidates for ISC 2021 on Friday to discuss issues related to the submission of the average marks of Class XII examinees scored in Classes XI and XII.

The council has asked schools to submit the marks by June 7.

The meeting was addressed by Gerry Arathoon, chief executive and secretary, CISCE and Sangeeta Bhatia, deputy secretary (ISC).

Across schools there are students who could not appear for exams because of Covid or other family emergencies.

“The council explained that we have to send marks of all exams and take out the average from exams/tests that a student appeared in,” said a principal.

During the pre-boards, which some schools conducted on the campus, there were students who were in quarantine because of Covid in the family.

There were also instances of students missing tests because they could not afford smartphones, especially during last year when schools were also struggling with the online medium.

Taking the average of other exams for one missed exam will ensure a student is not unfairly assessed, principals said.

“If a student did not appear for one exam and gets a zero, it would be unfair for the child and their marks would drastically come down. But this (average of the other exams) would mean they have a fair chance. He or she could have missed exams for indispensable reasons,” said a school principal who attended the meeting.

During Friday’s meeting, the council reminded principals to send the marks as soon as possible.

In a circular issued on Thursday, the council told principals that they are to “devise the objective criteria for assessment within 2 weeks”, which is by June 17.

The CBSE and the CISCE on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that they would lay down “objective criteria” for assessing Class XII students, now that the board exams had been cancelled.

The court on Thursday refused to entertain a plea by the counsel appearing for the CISCE, seeking four weeks’ time to place the details before the bench.

The court said: “You (CISCE) can do it overnight. Four weeks’ time is a little longer. We cannot give you three-four weeks’ time. You please place it before us in two weeks as students will have to take admission in colleges. Nowadays all communication is happening virtually,” the court had said.