Notification mandating board exams for classes 5, 8 and 9 and rule compelling students to bring answer sheets was issued by BJP government.
The Karnataka High Court quashes the board examinations for Classes 5, 8, 9 and 11 on Tuesday. (Supplied)
The Karnataka High Court, on Wednesday, 6 March, struck down the state government’s notification regarding the conduct of board examinations for students of classes 5, 8, 9, and 11.
The decision, rendered by a single-judge bench led by Justice Krishna Dixit, comes as a response to arguments presented by registered associations of private unaided schools.
They contended that such exams contradicted the principles of continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) mandated by the Right to Education Act (RTE) of 2009.
“Even since the state government issued a notification over conducting board examinations for classes 5, 8 and 9, the private unaided school associations vehemently opposed it. We also cautioned the previous BJP government about the legal consequences but the government ignored it,” claimed association members.
The notification mandating board examinations for classes 5, 8 and 9 was issued when the BJP government was at the helm in the state. Former BJP MLA BC Nagesh was then the minister for primary and secondary education.
Welcoming the high court order, Karnataka Unaided Schools Managements’ Association (KUSMA) President S Sathyamurthy also claimed that the board exams had increased the stress on primary and high school students.
Apart from quashing the board exams for students of classes 5, 8, and 9, the high court also annulled board exams for students of class 11.
The board examinations were slated to commence on 11 March but it faced opposition due to their departure from the CCE model.
The Karnataka State Examination and Assessment Board introduced a “centralised annual examination” for students of classes 5 and 8 in the last academic year. Subsequently, the government extended it to students of classes 9 and 11 through a notification issued in September 2023.
Under the guidelines laid down by the state government, question papers for the class 9 examinations would be prepared by the Karnataka School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Council, with evaluation taking place at the taluk level.
Meanwhile, for the first PUC examination, question papers would be set by the Pre-University (PU) board, and evaluation would occur at the college level.
Pointing out the process of conducting board examinations for students other than classes 10 and 12, Sathyamurty told South First: “The government conducts the board examinations differently for these grades. The authorities collect question paper fees from the students and won’t even issue hall tickets.”
“At the time of board exams, they only supply question papers and the rest — including providing answer sheets, evaluation and supervising — has to be carried out by the respective schools itself.”
“At the end, the schools have to submit the results to the government and they will publish it on their website. As if portraying that everything has been done by the board itself. In reality, it has issued only question papers and does not extend any kind of help to schools,” said Sathyamurthy disclosing the dark side of the board examinations.
Welcoming the high court order, several associations including KUSMA appealed to the state government and the Department of Public instructions to consult stakeholders before rolling out such unscientific and unilateral decisions.
Sathyamurthy told South First: “Amidst the opposition from the parents and school unions including KUSMA, the then BJP government issued notification over conducting board examinations for classes 5, 8, 9 and 11.”
“It was implemented when BJP’s BC Nagesh was the minister for primary and secondary education. We vehemently opposed it and expressed our concerns before the then minister and commissioner as well.”
“But they did not heed our concerns and went ahead and introduced board examinations. How can an eleven-year-old student handle the pressure of board examinations?” Sathamurthy questioned.
He termed it a unilateral and unscientific decision from the previous government.
“We also cautioned them of legal consequences but they did not listen. The court had given temporary relief earlier. We filed a petition and the high court has quashed the board examinations,” said Sathyamurthy welcoming the court’s order.
Sathyamurthy asserted that the newly introduced board examinations had imposed a considerable burden on students.
He pointed out: “Earlier, the board had scheduled annual exams on 16 March. Without giving any notice or intimation, the board preponed the exams to 11 March. This is how serious the government is about conducting the board examinations for classes 5,8,9 and 11.”
“Even for the students of classes 10 and 12, it is difficult to face board examinations,” Sathyamurthy said highlighting the incidents of students taking extreme steps and running away from homes.
“How can the students of classes 5, 8 and 9 take stress and pressure?” asked Sathyamurthy.
He added that the government is creating unnecessary tensions among students.
Sathyamurthy also urged the state government to consider all the stakeholders while making significant decisions about school examinations.
In a hurry to attack the Siddaramaiah-led-Congress government over certain rules of the board exams, BJP’s Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya forgot the rules set up by his own party’s government when it was at the helm in the state in 2023.
In his post on X, Tejsavi Surya posted a news report titled ‘Class 5, 8 and 9 exams: Students in Karnataka to be given only question papers, they have to bring answer sheets,’ attacked the state government.
Congress Govt, which has pushed Karnataka into bankruptcy, is now forcing students to bring their own Answer Booklets for board exams.
This govt is in complete mess, & has lost the dignity to continue in office.
Urge CM Shri @siddaramaiah to immediately borrow & release funds… pic.twitter.com/L8ua1Ay97a
— Tejasvi Surya (ಮೋದಿಯ ಪರಿವಾರ) (@Tejasvi_Surya) March 6, 2024
He said: “Congress government (sic), which has pushed Karnataka into bankruptcy, is now forcing students to bring their own answer booklets for board exams.”
“This government is in complete mess and has lost the dignity to continue in office. Urge CM Siddaramaiah to immediately borrow and release funds to the education department, ensuring answer booklets get printed.”
“Lack of foresight and planning by the government shouldn’t stress the student community,” urged MP Surya.
In reality, the previous BJP government under chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and minister BC Nagesh had set the rules, where students were asked to bring the answer sheets and pay for the question papers.
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