BENGALURU: Between the quashing of the notification to conduct board examinations for grades 5,8,9 and 11 and the subsequent stay order by the Karnataka High Court, students are the ones losing out in this commotion. With over 28 lakh students from 45,000 schools across the state taking examinations in the mentioned grades, they are unable to focus on their exams as the notifications from the government and orders from the court keep changing.
The story so far is that a single-bench judge had quashed the government’s notification. However, it was challenged by the government and just two days ago another HC bench overturned the judgment and allowed the exams to continue.
Educationists and parents said this back and forth is not good for the children as it will hamper their performance and spread fake information. While some activists have taken a stand on either side of the spectrum, the real impact will be on the future of these young minds. Currently, the exams are scheduled to begin as per the timetable on March 11.
Yogananda BN from the RTE Students and Parents’ Association said they have approached the Supreme Court in this matter and will wait for the case to be heard on Monday morning. “Though the exams are scheduled from 2.30 onwards on the same day, we hope SC will give the students some relief,” he said.
The activist also alleged that the government is pushing for these examinations only because of the printing mafias. “The department officials just want to earn the 40% commission from printing question papers for all these grades. But just for their benefit, why should students be subjected to excess stress and panic-driven situations of attending board exams,” Yogananda added.
The organization also urged the government to release the impact and the output created through these centralized exams in the lower standards. Not just city schools following the state board but also all schools in rural areas will be subjected to take these exams but how can they be evaluated at the same par at such a young age, the activist said.
KE Radhakrishna, an educationist, emphasized that conducting these exams is not a wise decision and supported the judgment by the single-bench judge.
“In grade 5, we are talking about students who are 11-12 years old and pressuring them to run behind marks is stunting their personality growth. Parents will become marks crazy and put more pressure on their children.” He added that the root cause of the problem is the push to bureaucratise the educational sector, leading to a larger societal problem.
