K'taka HC allows board exams for Class 5 and 8 students

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court, on Wednesday, issued an interim order allowing the state board to conduct board exams for class 5 and 8 students after two weeks, overturning a previous order that had cancelled the exams.

The decision was made by a division bench of Justice G Narendar and Justice Ashok S Kinagi, who stayed the March 10 order and directed that the exams should start from March 27.

The court also ruled that the state government should ensure that no questions are framed from subjects outside the prescribed syllabus and that the results should be communicated to the school and not made public. It was further suggested that no student should be failed.

The previous order, issued by a single-member bench of the High Court, had quashed state government’s circulars effectively cancelling the board exams that were scheduled to begin on March 13 and recommended that a normal annual examination be conducted as usual, with evaluation at the school level. However, the government appealed to the division bench, questioning the decision.

Lokesh Talikatte, president of the Karnataka Registered Unaided Private Schools Association (Rupsa), had objected to the conduct of the exams and approached the High Court. The interim order has now cleared the way for the exams to be held in two weeks’ time.