BENGALURU: In a big relief to lakhs of students, the High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday quashed the notifications issued by the state government to conduct board examinations for classes 5, 8, 9 and 11 in schools affiliated to the Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board from this academic year.
The government issued the notifications on October 6 and 9, 2023, without framing any rules, Justice Ravi V Hosmani said while quashing them.
The Registered Unaided Private Schools Management Association of Karnataka and the Organisation for Unaided Recognised Schools had challenged the notifications.
The court noted that in cases involving major decisions to bring drastic changes in the examination system, the government should have invited objections under Sections 22 and 145 of the Education Act, a mandatory procedure laid down in Section 23 of the Karnataka General Clauses Act. The notifications cannot be considered valid if these rules are not followed, it said.
The court said when officials made no effort to justify the notifications which were not issued as per the procedure under Section 145(4) of the Education Act, they should be held as unsustainable and accordingly quashed.
Empowered to issue such notifications: Govt
Contending that the notifications had been issued without framing necessary rules, the petitioners argued that Section 15(1) of the Right to Education (RTE) Act insists on ‘regular examinations’ while Section 30(1) of the Act prohibits holding of ‘board examinations’. These provisions of the Act provide for prohibition of board examinations altogether.
Section 16 prohibits detention or expulsion of students who fail in exams, they argued. The government contended that it has powers to issue such notifications under Section 7 of the Education Act without framing any rules. The proposed assessments should be viewed only as preparatory, designed to equip students to meet the challenges of board examinations in classes 10 and 12.