Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Tuesday decided to do away with failing students who do not pass their Class 7 examination. This will be applicable to public and private schools in the state.
The report card of the student wont carry ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ remark, but will point to the strengths and weaknesses of the students in every subject for which the exam is conducted. This exam will be called the Common Evaluation Exam.
The common evaluation exam is similar to the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) currently practiced under the Right to Education Act. “The formative and summative assessments (tests, projects and quizzes) will be held as usual”. KG Jagadeesha, Commissioner of public instructions said.
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Minister S Suresh Kumar said, “More than an exam, it is an evaluation of a child’s knowledge. The Belagavi division has done something similar. The Kalaburagi zone found Mathematics and Science were areas of concern; language was an issue in Urdu medium schools”.
The Minister said that Zilla Panchayat CEO’s have observed that intervention should start from Class 8. He further added, “Keeping this in mind, we’ve started necessary preparations for class 7 exams”.
The quality cell of the Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (which conducts SSLC exams in the states) will prepare the question papers that will be evaluated at the district level by the government and private school teachers.
The class 7 examinations will be held in March.
The Education department has also announced that in March, a helpline will be launched to answer queries from parents, teachers and students amongst others.