The Karnataka school board has witnessed an increase in absenteeism in Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examinations this year. According to Deccan Herald, more than 20,000 students were absent during the first exam with the number remaining above 10,000 for subsequent papers. This is the highest number in the last five sessions.
In a media statement, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, BC Nagesh attributed the absenteeism to the private candidates. He said, “A large number of students had registered as private candidates because they thought there won’t be exams this year, too, and they would get easily promoted. Absenteeism was also high in this category,”
Earlier, the board lifted the minimum 75 per cent attendance rule from this session due to which a greater number of students were allowed to sit in exams compared to previous years. According to The New Indian Express, students remained absent from the exams due to fear of failing as the exam was the regular one, unlike the last session. The report asserts that students were expecting the examination to be held like last year having multiple choice questions and promotion of all students due to the pandemic, but the scenario changed which created a fear in the mind of students and they preferred to bunk exams.
The documents available with The New Indian Express revealed that before the pandemic, the number of students who appeared in the exam was above 99 per cent. In 2017-18, only 4,203 students remained absent whereas, in 2018-19, the number of absentees was only 3,739. The last session pre-pandemic saw 99.15 per cent of students appearing for the exam. However, post-pandemic, the scenario sort of changed. In 2020-21, the number of students skipping exams remained low with 3,249 not appearing for papers. The biggest change is seen in the current session only where an average of over 15,000 absentees was recorded.
A teacher told Deccan Herald, “As per our analysis, fresh students who were absent for the exams were irregular to class and were not confident of clearing the exam.
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