Supreme Court halts declaration of half-yearly exam results for classes 8, 9, and 10 in Karnataka

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed that the results of half-yearly exams for classes eight, nine and tenth in any district of Karnataka should not be declared until further notice.
A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and SC Sharma issued the direction while hearing a plea against the Karnataka government's decision to hold board exams for classes 5,8,9 and 11 in schools affiliated with the Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEAB). The direction came after one of the counsel informed the court about the half-yearly board exam for Class 10.
The court expressed surprise, noting that there are no half-yearly board exams in other states, remarking that such exams "cannot happen" and calling it an "ego issue" by the state. The court emphasised that there is only a board exam, not half-yearly board exams.
The counsel for the Karnataka government stated that they would file an affidavit explaining that the exams were introduced due to declining student marks. The court granted the Karnataka government time to file its affidavit but, in the meantime, ordered that the results of the half-yearly board exams for classes 8, 9, and 10th should not be declared in any district until further orders.
The court further noted that this practice seems unique to Karnataka and suggested that if the state truly wants to secure a bright future for its students, it should focus on opening good schools and providing the best education.
During the previous hearing, the Karnataka government informed the court that the notification for board exams for classes 5th, 8th, 9th, and 11th had been withdrawn. However, this morning, advocate K.V. Dhananjay, representing the appellant, argued that the withdrawal had not been implemented fully and only applied to seven districts, excluding the 10th standard.
The court expressed dissatisfaction, questioning why the state is causing harassment to students.