Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will chair a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the High Court's directive on giving marks for third language subjects in the Class 10 examination.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, School Education and Literacy Minister Madhu Bangarappa said that the chief minister has convened a meeting on Wednesday. "The High Court has directed to continue the marks system for this year. We will discuss the issue with the chief minister," said the minister. He said the meeting will also disuss whether or not to file an appeal against the order of the High Court.
Meanwhile, the minister assured the students that there will not be any delay in the announcement of SSLC results. As per the earlier announcement, the results are to be announced on April 24. But, according to sources, it is likely to be delayed by a day or two as the special Cabinet meeting has been called on April 24 to discuss the internal reservation and KCET exams are scheduled on April 23 and 24.
Several stakeholders, including private schools management association, have welcomed the court's decision.
D Shashi Kumar, general secretary of the Associated Management of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka, said he hoped that the officials of the department and the minister concerned will understand the seriousness of the issue at least now.
"The government must take a decision and award marks for third language subjects," he said.
Welcoming the move, The Union to Protect the Interest of Indigenous Languages said, "This judgment is good for the development of all nine indigenous languages, including Kannada. We welcome the court's direction."
Former minister for school education & literacy Suresh Kumar (BJP) demanded that the government apologise to students for the confusion it created by announcing grade system a few days before the exams.
"The government must think before announcing any decision relating to children. Believing the decision on third lanauge subjects, many children did not take third language exams seriously. Now, the government has to answer on the fate of these students. I feel the government has played with the future of lakhs of children just by yielding to some pressures," Suresh Kumar said.
It can be recalled that on March 27, Madhu Bangarappa announced the decision to allot grades instead of marks for third language subjects from the current year itself. The announcements came a few days before the examinations for SSLC third language subjects.