The Karnataka government issued an official government order on Thursday allowing the Karnataka State Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) to conduct exams 1, 2, and 3 – a total of three annual examinations – for students in Class 10 (SSLC) and Class 12 (second PUC). The order will be in effect for the academic year 2023-24. With this, the Karnataka school education department will phase out the concept of supplementary examinations for SSLC and second PUC.

The main goal of the examination reform is to help students de-stress and improve their overall performance at both levels.

At present, if a student who has qualified the second PUC examination and is not satisfied with the marks obtained, there is a provision to reject the marks obtained in the annual examination and only the marks scored in the supplementary examination are considered as the final marks of the student, without considering the marks obtained in the previous examination.

On the basis of this' student unfriendly mechanism,' the board implemented a remedial system that allows students to keep their best score from the first, second, and third examinations.

The opportunity aims to improve students' opportunities for higher education and employment. The move is also seen as a factor in improving Karnataka's Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education.

According to the government's guidelines in the order, students with an annual class attendance of 75% can take the SSLC and second PUC annual examinations. Those with less than 75% attendance will not be allowed to take the exam.