Board Exams For Classes 5, 8, 9 And 11 Are In Students' Interest, No Parent Has Assailed The Decision: Karnataka Govt Tells High Court

The Karnataka government on Thursday urged before the High Court that Board exams proposed to be conducted this academic year for students of Classes 5, 8, 9 and 11 in schools affiliated to the State board are in the interest of students.

"No student or parent has come before the court because it is in their interest...if the exam is to be quashed now, the respective schools will have to draw the exams for the students. It is not that exams will not be held. We will now have to tell govt school teachers to set the exams paper but the standards will drop," Additional Advocate General Vikram Huilgol appearing for the State contended.

He added, “Board exams ensure uniformity in exams. Given the entire scenario, I would respectfully submit that permit us to conduct the exams. We believe that we are acting in the interest of students. Petitioners possibly in their conduct are acting against the overall interest of students.”

The division bench of Justice K Somashekhar and Justice Rajesh Rai K was hearing State's appeal against a single bench order quashing its decision to hold the said exam this academic year. The initial petitions challenging the exam were filed by Registered Unaided Private Schools Management Association and Organisation for Unaided Recognised Schools.

Significantly, the division bench had stayed the single judge decision of quashing the notifications but the Supreme Court, in a setback to the State, put the DB's interim order on hold. The hearing today was on merits of the appeal.

AAG argued that the impugned notifications quashed by the single judge merely designate Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) as the competent authority to conduct the exam and it is the Government Order dated November 16, 2023 which in fact declares that board exams (officially termed as Summative Assessment-2) for classes 5th, 8th, 9th and annual examination for class 11th for the subject academic year will be held. However, the GO remained unchallenged.

AAG further submitted that the decision to conduct board exams will be taken on a yearly basis based on the prevailing facts and circumstances and thus clarified that the impugned notifications dated October 6, 2023 and October 9, 2023 do not in any way "declare" that board examination would be conducted for the academic year 2023-24.

Thus he argued, “These are innocuous notifications give no cause of action for the petitioners. In the absence of a challenge to the said Government Order, the Single Judge ought not to have proceeded to examine the question as to whether the Appellants herein followed the procedure contemplated under law to prescribe the impugned scheme of assessment.”

Next, the AAG submitted that Section 22 of the Karnataka Education Act empowers the competent authority to regulate the examination system by prescribing internal assessment, external assessment or partly internal and partly external assessment. He argued that to exercise such powers, issuance of notifications by way of executive action is sufficient and there is no mandate under Karnataka Education Act or KSEAB Act to frame Rules for holding exams.

“The Single Judge has proceeded to quash the impugned Notifications, sans any observation, either on the power of the State Government under Section 22 of the Karnataka Education Act to regulate the scheme of assessment/examination; or the power of the KSEAB under Section 15(a)(iv) of the KSEAB Act,” he submitted.

He added, “If every notification is published after inviting objections then the government will not be able to function. Notification is issued using executive power of the state. If notifications are issued after objections then the central and state govt will come to stand still.”

The bench also heard a few intervenors today before rejecting a memo seeking to refer the appeal to a larger bench.

Advocate A Velan for the intervenor argued that the issue arises almost every year and affects lakhs of students and thus it would be ideal if the issue is resolved by an authoritative judgment of a larger bench. However, the division bench took note of the Supreme Court's order (which put DB's interim order on hold) and observed that the Apex court had directed the Division Bench may decide the writ appeals on merits and in accordance with law without being influenced by the observations made by it.

“Keeping in view the order rendered by the Supreme Court, the memo stands dismissed,” the bench said.

The matter is now posted for hearing tomorrow.

Case Title: State of Karnataka & Others And REGISTERED UNAIDED PRIVATE SCHOOLS MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION KARNATAKA & others.

Case No: WA 293/2023.