No hijab at PUC II examinations like last year, says Education Minister Nagesh

BENGALURU: Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh on Friday declared that students will not be allowed to write the exam wearing a hijab, like last year. “If they come wearing a hijab, they won’t be allowed to write the exam. The Karnataka High Court has already upheld the government order in this regard”, he added.

With the PUC II examinations starting from March 9, steps will be taken in all districts to curb malpractice, he said. “We will conduct the examinations well like we did last year. We will allow the students into the exam centre half an hour earlier and the exams will be student-friendly. Electronic devices are banned and police personnel will be deployed to prevent malpractice. At sensitive examination centres, CCTV cameras will be installed”, the minister added.

The Primary and Secondary Education Department has also made several services for privates schools available online. Minister B C Nagesh launched the services at a private hotel in the city on Friday.

The services that will be offered online for educational institutions include application for permission to start new schools, registration, no-objection certificate (NoC), renewal of registration, linking of state and central syllabus among others.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister Nagesh said the services used to be time-consuming and the online mechanism has been introduced to simplify the process. “Earlier, these services were provided in an eight-stage process and we have brought it down to four now. What used to take 27 days can now be done in 17 days”, he added.

Applicants will get messages on the status of the application and digital signatures will be affixed. “Henceforth, the three-member committee will visit only 5 per cent of institutions for physical verification while the scrutiny of the rest will be online. The DDPIs have been suitably empowered for this”, he said.

On illegal educational institutions, the minister said action will be taken as per law after the completion of examinations for students so as to not disturb their academic activities. “The illegal schools have been identified and notices issued to them. Action will be taken after the conclusion of examinations. From next year, information about schools will be put up on the department website and parents can check it out before admitting their wards in any school”, he said.

The minister also said that grace marks for Class 10 and 12 students will be awarded as it was being done so far. “This year, there will be multiple choice questions”, he added.