ICSE parents get set for Round 2

The group of 21 parents of ICSE students who had challenged the state’s Best-Five policy filed a caveat in the Supreme Court on Thursday to ensure that they can present their side of the issue.

The state government has said it would appeal against the Bombay High Court’s verdict on Wednesday striking down the policy.

“The Supreme Court could either admit the state government’s appeal or dismiss it outright,” said Naushad Engineer, who was one of the lawyers arguing on behalf of the ICSE Board, which was a party to the case in the HC.

The HC scrapped the Best-Five policy stating that it violated Article 14 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law.

In February, the state had announced the Best-Five formula, which provided that the best five out of six scores of SSC students would be counted for junior college admissions. In contrast, all seven subjects that ICSE students are tested on were to be counted for their final percentages.

“Yesterday was not about a victory against students. We were only against a government resolution we thought was wrong,” said Dr CV Hegde, one of the parent petitioners, whose son studies at Campion School.

In the immediate aftermath of the state government’s counter punch, ICSE schools and parents appear to be regrouping themselves.

“This time I really don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Perin Bagli, principal of Activity High School and secretary of the Association of ICSE Schools in Maharashtra. “In the past two years, our association was party to the dispute. This time we are only offering support from the outside.”

The government on its part appeared confident about their case, despite this being the third consecutive year that one of their education policies has been scrapped by the HC. “This time we have a strong case,” said a government official.