No Board Exams For 5th And 8th Class Students In State Board: Karnataka High Court Quashes Govt Circulars
The Karnataka High Court on quashed three circulars issued by the State government by which it prescribed a Board Examination for students of Standards 5 and 8th in schools affiliated to the state board. This was in the case of Karnataka unaided schools managements association And State of Karnataka(W.P.No.14316-318/2013) and this is presided over by a single bench of Justice Pradeep Singh Yerur.
FACTS OF THE CASE:
In these writ petitions,The petitioners had questioned the circular contending that changing the assessment method by conducting State-level ‘board exams’ instead of school-level assessment will adversely impact the students and the teachers. Further it was said that no discussions with the stakeholders, parents, children or schools had been undertaken before issuing the circulars. However, the state government contended that there is no Board examination. There is only a minor change in the curriculum and 80 percent of the total 100 marks will be given to the students based on the continuous internal assessment made by the respective schools from the beginning of the academic year. It is only for the remaining 20 per cent marks for the final assessment process that question papers will be prepared at the state level and evaluation of the paper is done at taluk and block levels.
JUDGEMENT:
The bench in its order said “It is a cardinal principle of law that when any scheme, circular or law of the government is implemented it has to evolve or emanate from the statute under which it is governed.”
The bench said “I am afraid that the said contention of the AAG cannot be accepted for the reasons that by virtue of the impugned circulars there is a change which is brought about by the state government. Awarding of 20 marks for the year 2022-23 which would invariably be assessed by the board of the state. It added “Thereby an external agency is coming into play only for awarding 20 marks for students of class 5 and 8th. This is not contemplated under section 16 of the RTE Act. The said circulars can only supplement the Act or the Rules, but in no circumstances supplant the rules. In such a situation where the circular is issued to supplant the rules which are in the guise of rules, the prescribed procedures are to be followed as contemplated under section 38 (4) of the Act.”
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JUDGEMENT REVIEWED BY PRATIKSHYA P. BEURA