Private schools must announce before April 10

Reshma Ravishanker

Government and aided schools across Karnataka have been asked to announce the results of the Summative Assessments (board exams) for classes V, VIII and IX on the day of the second biannual ‘Samudayadatta Shale’ initiative.

As per the schedule for Samuadayaddata Shale in the calendar of events of the department of school education and literacy, results of class V students in these schools will be announced on April 8 and that of class VIII and IX will be announced on April 10.

The Karnataka School Education Department has set a deadline for completion of evaluation of papers for class V, VIII and IX summative assessments.

According to a reminder issued by the Karnataka School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Council, since the assessments for class V have been completed on March 26, the evaluation process must be completed by March 31. However, since exams for classes VIII and IX will end on March 28, the evaluation is to be completed by April 2.

The answer keys to these Summative Assessments (2) which were drafted by the Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) have been made available to Block Education Officers on their login. These assessments will be done block wise inter cluster.

Teachers who will take up evaluation duty have been expected to evaluate 80 answer scripts each day for class V exams, 60 per day for class VIII and 40 per day for class IX.

Once the papers have been evaluated, teachers or headmistresses in individual schools must convert these marks into grades and upload them onto the SATS portal.

“We might have to push our everyday deadline a bit to be able to accommodate evaluating these papers on time. However, in the interest of teachers who are looking forward to holidays and students who have spent an anxious month over the postponement of these exams, timely evaluation is necessary,” said Ramya, a teacher from one of the government-aided schools in the state.

Meanwhile, H K Manjunatha, honorary president, Karnataka State High School Assistant Headmasters Association said that teachers must not complain about the evaluation coming amidst several other duties keeping the interest of students in mind.

“There is already enough pressure on teachers. Many of them are on SSLC exams and election duties. However, this is a one of its kind situations where teachers are expected to rise beyond their routine duties. In the interest of students, the evaluation can be done while setting aside time for other tasks,” he added.

Padmasheree (name changed) a school headmistress from a private school in Bengaluru however explained that the workload was too much to handle. “Teachers are already reeling under a lot of stress. 40 papers per day is much beyond an acceptable number. Instead, sending papers to the school would have been much easier for teachers,” she said.

D Shashi Kumar, general secretary, Associated Managements of Private Schools in Karnataka said that private schools have the power of discretion on when the results will be announced. “As per the calendar of events of the education department, April 10 is the last day of the academic year. Schools must announce results before that,” he said. 

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