The education department is considering holding common assessments for class 9 and 11 (I PU) in state board schools, on the lines of the class 5 & 8 exams implemented earlier, reports Sruthy Susan Ullas.

The Department of School Education and Literacy's Principal Secretary, Ritesh Kumar Singh, stated that the conversation is still in its early stages and that no decision has been made. Although the rationale for the shift is to ensure the consistency of the evaluation procedure, some academics believe that it will leave students and teachers in class 9 with little to no opportunity for a break.
The suggestion has reportedly been discussed with Madhu Bangarappa, the minister of basic and secondary education, according to sources.

A common assessment was conducted for class 5 and 8 for the first time in the 2022-23 academic year, following a high court intervention after a set of private schools challenged the move in court. The question paper was prepared by the Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board and evaluation was done at the taluk level. There was no pass or fail and the results were conveyed to individual students.
"The idea is to extend the assessment process used for class 5 and 8 to class 9 and 11 too. Instead of the local school or district setting the question paper, KSEAB will set the paper," Singh said.

"Currently, the question papers set by the schools do not have a uniform standard. The idea is to have a standardised test, allowing an accurate feedback on where the students stand," he added.
"Usually, after class 8 and before the board exams in class 10, class 9 was the time that could be devoted to explaining concepts. Also, many students join high schools in class 9 and need time to settle down. There is no point in testing students if they do not have enough time to catch up," said a teacher from a government high school in Bengaluru.

"We're working on the legal frameworks for class 5 and 8 assessments. Similarly, we need to look at classes 9 and I PU, too. There are several aspects to be considered, including financial implications and administrative decisions. We need exams in class 9 and I PU to train students to focus better on academics," said Vishal R, commissioner, department of school education.

Following the class 5 and 8 assessments, even though the education department had said that a detailed analysis would be done on the performance of each school and the areas they needed to focus on, schools are yet to receive those reports.

"Department of State Educational Research and Training and District Institute for Education and Training (DIET) have started working on it. The reports will be out soon," said Vishal.