Madhu Bangarappa, Minister of Education, Karnataka.
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: Minister for School Education and Literacy Madhu Bangarappa on Wednesday said that there will be no grace marks for SSLC/class 10 exams from this year.
Explaining about the reforms brought in the examination system to put an end to malpractice, including live streaming and webcasting of the examination, the minister, at a news conference, said, “There is no fear among students on the reforms we have made and there is no need for grace marks. Copying has stopped because of the reforms we introduced in the exams last year. Students are aware of the system in place and there is no fear among them. Hence, there is no need to award grace marks.”
It can be recalled that during a review meeting of the School Education and Literacy department a few months ago, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had taken the officials to the task, questioning on what basis did they award grace marks. He had instructed them to scrap the grace marks. In the 2024 March/April SSLC exam results, the Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board had awarded 20%, grace marks to the students, as results had dipped by 30%. The department had attributed dip in results due to measures taken to reduce malpractice.
In order to improve the results, the department had revised the criteria to award grace marks. By giving 20% grace marks, around 1.70 lakh students who had failed, were promoted and the results improved by 20%. The officials explained that of the 20% grace marks awarded, 10% was introduced during Covid-19 pandemic, and other 10%, was in view of the reforms introduced. The 10% grace marks introduced during the pandemic will also be scrapped from this year.