Karnataka students write mid-term exams after months without classes as teachers stay on SIR duty

Students in government and aided schools in Karnataka wrote their mid-term examinations even after several schools did not hold regular classes for nearly three months. The teachers could not take classes because they were deployed for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) related work, as reported by Deccan Herald.

Teachers who have SIR duty have also raised concerns about the impact on students. A government high school headmistress in Bengaluru West, who is currently working on SIR duties, said high school teachers should not have been given SIR duties.

Deccan Herald reports that students have also spoken about the difficulties while writing examinations. One student said she struggled with the English and Mathematics papers because classes were not regular. Another from an aided school said she had to learn lessons on YouTube. Some students even chose not to write the mid-term assessment.

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Schools seek another assessment

Many students have requested schools to again hold the examinations in December, after teachers are free from SIR duties. However, not all schools have gone through the same situation. Some schools had arranged guest teachers who took classes on behalf of the regular teachers, according to Deccan Herald.

D Shashi Kumar, general secretary of the Associated Management of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka, said that this kind of situation is unfair to students. He also added by saying that the government should have increased the number of guest teachers to cope up with the situation. 

Shashi Kumar is also worried that completing the syllabus after the Dasara break could put more pressure on students and that could affect the 2027 Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) results.

This year's question papers for SSLC students were made by the Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) in the prescribed format of the SSLC preparatory examination. The papers were uploaded to school portals so that they could help students to check how well they are prepared for the board examinations.