The ongoing annual summative assessments for classes V, VIII and IX (state syllabus) students in Karnataka’s have been postponed until further orders according to the education department.
In an official note on Tuesday, the education department said that the decision has been taken following a Supreme court order on Tuesday.
The board exams (summative assessment) began for these students on Monday even as the matter was being heard by the supreme court.
A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal of the Supreme Court said that the State’s move to conduct board exams for these classes is prima facie in violation of Section 30 of the Right to Education Act. This section bans conduct of board exams for these ages.
Lokesh T, president, Registered Unaided Private Schools Association, Karnataka said, “The SC’s order to immediately stop conducting the exams for these classes is a welcome move and is a victory for us. This is against the Right to Education for children. We have been condemning this for a year now. Section 13 of the RTE act has said that board exams cannot be conducted for children this age. The congress government has violated a rule that the party itself introduced when they were in power,” he said.
It may be recollected that RUPSA and Karnataka government have been fighting a legal battle regarding the summative assessments.
On March 6, a single judge bench in the Karnataka High Court had quashed the government notification allowing board exams being conducted for classes V, VIII, IX and XI. However, a division bench of the court on March 8 gave it a green signal, dismissing the single bench’s order.
This year, as many as 28 lakh students have registered to appear for the summative assessments. While exams for classes V, VIII and IX commenced on March 11, that of class XI was completed on February 28.