The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) announced on 13 December 2022 that the Karnataka State Evaluation and Assessment Board (KSEAB) has decided to implement the annual board examination system for students of classes 5 and 8, affiliated with the state board, from March 2023.
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As per DPI reports, the annual examination will be conducted from March 9 to 17, 2023. The evaluation will commence on March 21, and students can expect the results between April 8 and 10, 2023.
Since these exams will be held for the current academic year, and the KSEAB affiliated schools have already completed half of the academic year 2022-23, the Karnataka Board Exams for classes 5 and 8 will consist of the syllabus taught in the second half only – between November 2022 and March 2023.
Moreover, Karnataka Government has also decided to scrap the no-detention policy for Class 5 and 8 students. As per the new guidelines, schools can hold students back if they fail the exams and in the supplementary, which would be held two months later. However, schools will now be allowed to expel any student before they complete elementary education.
As per the KSEAB guidelines, the annual board exams for Classes 5 and 8 will carry a total of 50 marks and will last two hours. Oral tests will contribute to 10 marks, 20 marks for multiple-choice questions, and 20 marks for descriptive answers. The remaining 50 marks will be awarded based on the students’ results in Formative Assessment (FA) 1, FA 2, and Summative Assessment 1 examinations.
Students will also be able to access model question papers based on the ‘learning recovery’ programme and the state syllabus by the second week of January. These model papers will be set by KSEAB and the Department of State Educational Research and Training (DSERT).
According to DPI officials, the step is taken as a part of the state government’s effort to evaluate students’ overall yearly performance. “This is not a board exam. This is to assess a child’s learning to intervene and facilitate catching up. If a proper assessment is held and we tell the stakeholders about it, they will work towards the achievements. This includes the teachers, children, and our team that determines the pedagogy,” said DPI Commissioner Vishal R.
The state government aims to bring more seriousness among students and recover from the learning loss caused by the COVID pandemic. Currently, students are assessed through Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) grading system, however, from the next academic year, they will be evaluated for the whole year.
