Minister asks board to relax exam for classes 5 and 8 of unauthorised private schools in Bengaluru

Our govt. has considered the fraudulent schools issue seriously and will punish them according to the law. Running a CBSE board school with State affiliation is intolerable. To avoid all these irregularities, we are conducting board examination for the students of classes 5 and 8 at the State-level from this academic year, says B.C. Nagesh

Despite releasing a list of unauthorised private schools which are running in the name of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) by taking State Board affiliation, Karnataka government is planning to give relaxation from the board exams for classes 5 and 8 for such schools.

The board exam for classes 5 and 8 will be held from March 13 to 18 across the State.

B.C. Nagesh, Minister of the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) has sent a note to the Principal Secretary of the  Department of School Education and Literacy in this regard. In his note, the Minister said, “Take necessary action to give relaxation from the board examination for classes 5 and 8 which will be conducted by the Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board for the private schools which have got No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the State government to teach CBSE or ICSE curriculum.”

In recent months, some private schools had conducted a press conference and made corruption charges against the officers of DSEL. Instead of conducting inquiry, the department set up three-member committees headed by BEOs to private schools for verification.

The committees identified 1,300 illegal private schools across the State. Among these, 95 were running in the name of CBSE and ICSE by taking State board affiliation.

The government’s decision to hold board exams for Classes 5 and 8 at the State-level put illegal schools under pressure, forcing them to teach State board syllabus. Parents of children of one such school protested and filed a police complaint against the school.

The Minister had said then, “Our government has considered the fraudulent schools issue seriously and will punish them according to the law. Running a CBSE board school with State affiliation is intolerable. To avoid all these irregularities, we are conducting board examination for the students of classes 5 and 8 at the State-level from this academic year. All the State board affiliated schools must compulsorily follow this.”