Karnataka board exams for Classes 5, 8, 9 postponed; Supreme Court stays HC interim order

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has set aside the interim order of the Karnataka High Court which ultimately allowed the state government to conduct board exams for Classes 5, 8, and 9, as per a Live Law report. The Karnataka HC had passed the interim order staying the single bench judgment which revoked the government notification to hold board exams for these classes.

As a result, the Karnataka school education department has postponed the state board exams for 5th, 8th, and 9th. Notably, the Karnataka government had already commenced the board exams for the secondary classes on March 11.

The private school organizations and parents filed petitions challenging the interim order passed by a division bench of the high court. The top allowed the appeals and asked the division bench to take a decision on the main appeals as quickly as possible.

While staying the interim order, the apex court noted that the board exams for Classes 5, 8, and 9 have already started and said that it is clarified that state cannot go on with conducting the board exams for now.

Karnataka assessment policy, High Court order

The division bench of the high court had found the government notification in violation of the rules and stayed the order passed by the single bench. The state government had challenged the single bench order of the Karnataka HC.

On March 7, the single bench including Justice Ravi V Hosmani made the judgment and scrapped board exams for Classes 5, 8, and 9. The court was hearing the petition filed by the private school association to continue with the comprehensive evaluation rather than summative assessment.

In December 2022, the Karnataka government had introduced the formative summative assessments for Classes 5 and 8. The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) was given the responsibility to conduct the exams.