Karnataka High Court Upholds Government's Decision To Conduct Board Exams For Classes 5, 8, 9 and 11The Karnataka High Court’s two-judge panel gave the state administration permission to hold the board exams on March 11 as planned. The court overturned a single-judge bench’s decision to annul the state government’s announcement that classes 5, 8, 9, and 11 would have board exams. The Karnataka government filed an appeal against the single-judge judgment, and the interim order was passed.
Justices K Somashekar and Rajesh Rai K stayed the order passed on March 6 by Justice Krishna Dixit, in response to the petition filed by Registered Associations of Private Unaided Schools. The court said, “Without expressing any opinion on the merits of the matter, we are of the considered opinion that the impugned order passed by the learned single judge is required to be stayed.”
The government’s counsel stated in the court that no parent or student has petitioned the High Court to object to the examination and that the exams are being administered in the interests of the students. He further claimed that vested interests are the reason the private school group is contesting the government’s decision to hold exams.
However, the president of the Registered Associations of Private Unaided Schools Association said to challenge the order in the Supreme Court.
Reportedly, Karnataka State Examination and Assessment Board introduced a ‘centralised annual examination’ for classes 5 and 8 last year and through a notification issued in September 2023, informed about the board exams for class 9 and PUC (class 11). As per the State Board, no student shall be detained if they fail. In such cases, the school shall inform the students and parents about the result personally. And for PUC, the board will conduct a supplementary exam at the college level, if a student fails.
The Registered Associations of Private Unaided Schools argued that conducting board examinations for 5, 8, 9, and 11 violates the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) model under the Right to Education Act (RTE), 2009. As per the RTE under CCE the exam and evaluation for classes 5,8,9 and 11 should not be board exams or centralised rather they should be done at the school level and the assessment of students should be based on their learning abilities.
The Karnataka High Court in an order passed by a single bench headed by Justice Krishna Dixit quashed the decision to conduct board exams for Classes 5, 8, 9, and Pre – University Course (PUC) which were scheduled from March 11. The decision came in response to the petition filed by Registered Associations of Private Unaided Schools.
Notably, last year the school education board introduced conducted board exams for classes 5, 8, and 9 and the decision was upheld by the State High Court and Supreme Court.