Attended by around 19.03 lakh students for the First Language subjects, the first day board exam for class 5 and 8 was successfully held across Karnataka on Monday (March 27) without any major glitches.
The Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) conducted the exams for these classes for the first time in the State. As many as 9,59,734 students were enrolled from 56,157 schools for the class 5 examination, and 9,49,919 students were enrolled from 22,639 schools for the class 8 examination.
However, other than some confusion over interchange of question papers in the First Language subjects in Bengaluru South education district, the examination went off without any glitches. Most of the questions were covered with ‘Kalike Chetarike’ programme and the highest number of the questions were based on Multiple Choice Question model.
The DSEL has changed the method of assessment for classes 5 and 8 by conducting uniform examinations for all schools in the State by preparing common question papers from the academic year of 2022-23. Organisation for Unaided Recognised Schools and the Registered Unaided Private Schools’ Management Association, Karnataka, and the Karnataka Unaided Schools Managements’ Association had challenged the government’s order, but in vain.
Petition dismissed
The Supreme Court dismissed a petition by schools against a Karnataka High Court order allowing students of classes 5 and 8 to take State board exams. A Bench led by Justice B.R. Gavai found no merit in the petition, asking why the institutions were opposing it when the State has already taken the decision.
The lawyer for the schools said the change came at the “fag end of class 5 and 8” for the students. It was argued that the State had not consulted the stakeholders, and that the change in the assessment method would affect both students and teachers.
