Cluster-level exams for Classes 5, 8 state board students from this year

BENGALURU: Days after Public TV reported about the government’s plans to conduct cluster-level exams for Classes 5 and 8, an official notification was issued on Tuesday which said that the exams will be conducted from the current academic year itself.

The government has been unable to gauge the learning levels of the state board students and hence, the cluster-level exams are planned to help overcome any shortcomings in the learning process.

The exams will be conducted at the cluster level and will include descriptive and multiple choice questions. No exam fee will be collected from students and the DIET principals and BEOs will decide on the exam centres. For Class 8 students, each exam centre will accommodate 50 students, while for Class 5 students, each centre will have 25 students.

If there are fewer number of schools, then those in a 2-km radius can become a cluster. Exams will be conducted at the cluster level, and teachers will have to be changed for invigilation. The respective school head teachers will distribute the hall tickets.

The exams will be conducted for 50 marks and two hours time will be given to the students. Of the 50 marks, 40 marks will be awarded to written exams and 10 marks for viva-voce. The question papers will be printed by the Karnataka School Examination and Evaluation Board and will be distributed to the DIET institutions. The BEOs will be responsible for their distribution.

The descriptive and objective type exam will together be for 100 marks and the minimum passing marks will be 35. Students should not be failed and shoud be marked for improvement, according to the notification.