Uncertainty clouds public exam proposal for Class 7

State primary and secondary education minister S Suresh Kumar, who last month announced re-introduction of public examinations for Class 7 from the current academic year, has refused to clarify the lack of a government order.

In a press conference on Tuesday, when reporters asked him to clarify whether public examination will be conducted for class 7 this academic year or not, he said, “I cannot answer.”

The minister’s reply gave credence to the view expressed by the sources in the department that the public exam may not happen this year. On October 4, the minister announced the re-introduction of public exams for Class 7 from the current academic year. More than month since then, no official order had been issued till now.

Sources in the department said a final decision on whether or not to conduct the public exam from the current academic was yet to be taken. There are talks of postponing it to the next academic year.

Sources from the department told DH that, the matter was kept on hold at the higher level considering objections from several quarters.

“Following the decision, even Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights issued a notice to the department and also several academicians raised objection. Considering all this, the officials decided to have another round of meeting with the minister,” said a source.

Meanwhile, some officials have suggested that public exam should be introduced at Class 8 instead of Class 7. “As students have continuous comprehensive evaluation till Class 7, some officials opined that it would be better to introduce public exams at Class 8 level,” the source explained.

“Under the Right to Education Act, there is also provision to detain students in Class 8. So, some officials and experts expressed their opinion that conducting public exams at Class 8 would be better,” source added. However, final decision will be taken after having meeting with the minister.

As per the discussion, Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board has to prepare question papers for Class 7 and need to set the timetable also. Some officials feel that it would be a burden for the Board to prepare for both Class 10 and 7 public exams.

The minister’s talk of re-introducing public examination at Class 7 level came after it was felt that the learning level of students in state has decreased. The minister also seemed to be echoing the opinion of teachers and parents during his visit to several districts across Karnataka. The public examinations for Class 7 was last conducted in the year 2004-05.