BENGALURU: After a feedback mechanism was put in place to weigh the pros and cons, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education S Suresh Kumar has decided to make an announcement regarding SSLC and PU examinations, at 10am Friday.
“These are just qualifying exams which give certificates to students, marks and grades are not a concern. Colleges, anyway, have their own mechanism such as entrance exams for various courses,” said educationist Nirajanaradhya VP, who had put forth recommendations to the government. As for evaluation, he said it was optimal if SSLC students were marked based on their Class VII-X performance, which includes final exams of the first two non-Covid years, and unit tests held for Class X during 2020-21.
Proposals before govt
The Department of Pre-University Education has proposed cancellation of exams as one of the alternatives, as per officials. In this case, modalities of marking/evaluating students will have to be discussed. Another alternative is to hold exams, but for just 50 marks in the regular pattern. Hundreds of SSLC and second PU students participated in a slogan protest on Thursday against holding exams.
“Taking into consideration the health and educational well-being of the students, states like Maharashtra, Goa, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and several others have cancelled examinations this year. But the grave silence of the Karnataka government has created tremendous anxiety among students and parents,” said the students’ organisation AIDSO, which spearheaded the protest.
Ninge Gowda AH, president, Karnataka State Pre-University College Lecturers’ Association, also told TNIE that with BJP-ruled states declaring cancellation of Class XII board exams, a similar decision by the state seems likely. Holding exams would also cause difficulty in the evaluation process, which would have to be decentralised, he said, adding that during 2019-20, evaluation took up to 54 days. “Unit test marks, mid-term exams and last year’s results can be considered a criteria for marking,” he added. However, SSLC students have not been evaluated this year and there are demands for it to be held, as per sources privy to the developments.