No board exams for class 5 and 8, SC dismisses petition against Karnataka HC order

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the decision of the Karnataka High Court striking down a government circular to set board exams for classes 5 and 8 in March.

The top court found no merit in the petition, and asked the petitioners why they were opposing it when the State has already taken the decision.

The lawyer, apprearing for the school said the change has come at the "fag end of class five and eight" for students.

The petitioners claimed that the State had not consulted with the necessary stakeholders. They went on to say that changing the assessment method to State-level board exams for these two classes instead of internal school exams would affect both students and teachers.

According to The Hindu, the schools complained that "Children at evening made to go through a different syllabus. There was no draft of the changed syllabus or any consultation done."

A division bench of the high court on March 15 had stayed an order of a single bench, which had set aside circulars dated December 12 and December 13, 2022, and January 4, 2023, issued by the Commissioner of Public Instructions and the Department of State Education.

The single bench had said the circulars are contrary to the intentions of the Right to Education Act under which they were issued.