- Karnataka High Court cancelled the board exams for Classes 5, 8, 9, and 11 following objections from private unaided schools, citing conflicts with the continuous evaluation model of the RTE.
The Karnataka High Court intervened in the State’s education system by cancelling the board exams for Classes 5, 8, 9, and 11. This ruling came as a result of objections raised by private unaided schools, which argued that the proposed board exams contradict the principles of continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) mandated by the Right To Education Act (RTE) 2009.
Lokesh Talikatte, President of the Registered Unaided Private Schools Association, emphasised the disparity between the CCE framework advocated by RTE and the board exams proposed by the Karnataka State Examination and Assessment Board. According to Talikatte, CCE promotes a holistic approach to assessment, focusing on continuous evaluation at the school level, whereas board exams introduce external pressures that may hinder students’ learning progress.
This ruling has been marking a turning point in a series of legal battles surrounding the implementation of board exams for lower classes. Previous government initiatives, including the introduction of centralised annual examinations for Classes 5, 8, and 9, have faced opposition from private school associations and legal challenges in the Karnataka High Court.
In a similar case during the previous academic year (2022-23), the Karnataka High Court allowed the government to conduct board exams for Classes 5 and 8 students, albeit with certain conditions. The court directed the government to ensure that exams align with the prescribed syllabus and to provide necessary support to students who fail, without detaining them.
