Karnataka pvt schools cry hoarse on tagging students

Bengaluru: The Associated Management for Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka expressed strong disapproval of the Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board’s (KSEAB) decision to tag SSLC students from schools, which have not renewed their recognition, to nearby private and government schools.

Dubbing the move ‘illegal’, the association pointed to the directions issued by the Special House Committee constituted expressly to address the problem of schools that have not renewed their recognition. “If the government is so particular about recognition, and is concerned about the plight of students at such schools, why has it not identified and published a list of these unauthorised institutions,” asked D Shashi Kumar, the general secretary of the association.

Former BJP MLC Arun Shahapur, meanwhile, sought to draw the government’s attention to the difficulties involved in getting recognition renewed. “Why is the board concerned with recognition? Once a student enrols at a school, and one’s details are entered into the Students’ Achievement Tracking System, the board is obliged to allow that student to appear for the exam,” he said.

MLC Puttanna too has written to the Principal Secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy, seeking directions to the KSEAB to withdraw the order on tagging children to nearby schools. “Despite the House Committee making it clear that students of schools that have not renewed their recognition be allowed to write the exam, the board issuing such an order is unacceptable,” said Puttanna.

Data indicates that more than 44,000 children across the state are yet to register for the SSLC examinations, with officials claiming that these were students of schools that have pending recognition dues.