Exams for classes 5, 8, and 9 will resume on Monday after approval from the Karnataka High Court

BENGALURU: On Friday, a division bench of the Karnataka High Court upheld the state government’s circulars directing the administration of the second-term summative assessment for classes 5, 8, 9, and 11, in accordance with the state curriculum. A few hours later, the Karnataka school education department said that Monday afternoon would mark the start of the assessments for classes 5, 8, and 9, which had been half completed before being postponed.

On Monday (1), the examinations for classes 5, 8, and 9 will continue.
The exam announcements were contested by the Recognised Unaided Private School Association (Rupsa), which has declared that it would appeal the HC ruling on Friday to the Supreme Court.
The division bench, made up of Justices K Somashekar and Rajesh Rai K, allowed the state government’s writ appeals against a judgement issued by a single court on March 6 and ordered the state to conduct the final assessments for classes 5, 8, and 9 in addition to starting the halted process for class 11. Class 11 exams have been completed, however valuation is still waiting.
On Monday, 38 lakh students will resume their studies for examinations.
On Monday afternoon, summative exams for classes 5, 8, and 9 will start up again, bringing in close to 28 lakh kids. The SSLC examinations are scheduled to begin in the morning on the same day, with an approximate attendance of 10 lakh kids. Officials in charge of instruction at schools, however, are optimistic that there won’t be any mayhem.
Eight and Nine each have four tests remaining, while Class 5 has two left. The dates of the class 5 exams are March 25 and 26. The dates for classes 8 and 9 are set for March 25–28. Examinations for other grades will be conducted in the afternoon on the days when the SSLC examinations are also taken, which are Monday and Wednesday.
“We wanted to give them ample time to be ready, so we might have started on Saturday afternoon. We chose to begin on Monday. There won’t be a conflict since SSLC is in the morning and these tests are in the afternoon. The battle is far from done, but the required logistical preparations will be made to guarantee there is no difficulty, said Kaveri BB, commissioner of the department of school education and literacy.
It’s not the end of the show, however, if you believe that. The Supreme Court will shortly receive a special leave plea from the Recognised Unaided Private School Association (Rupsa), which aims to contest the HC judgement allowing examinations for classes 5, 8, and 9. Rupsa President Lokesh T said, “As soon as we receive the HC order, we will file a special leave petition.” Dismissing claims that the government and the schools are engaged in an ego battle, Lokesh said that they are fighting for the rights of students and the Right to Education Act. “In response to the SC ruling, the government returned to the division bench. The directives are obviously against RTE,” he said.
D “We are pleased that the confusion has ended,” said Shashi Kumar, secretary of the Karnataka Association of Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools. Nevertheless, we ask that the government investigate the problem with the examinations’ quality.”
According to Shashi Kumar, unapproved schools should face consequences from the government. “Schools that are claiming to run the CBSE and ICSE curriculum but only have licence to administer the state syllabus are the ones now opposing the tests. They claim it’s test anxiety. Which schools, nevertheless, don’t provide exams? It’s simply an excuse they’re using to get out of taking these tests,” he remarked.