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Bengaluru, Jul 1: Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar on Wednesday played down reports about confusion regarding valuation of Second Pre- University and the Secondary School Leaving Certificate exam papers.

"Creating confusion has become a habit. There was confusion before the exam, during the exam and now confusion about the valuation of the exam papers," Kumar told reporters in Ramanagara when asked about the confusion over the valuation of answer sheets.

He had gone there to inspect a few centres where the SSLC or the 10th standard exams are underway.

The minister reminded people not to speak about the abilities of the students with contempt.

"Our students have toiled hard and are enthusiastically appearing for the examination. They are eligible for the marks they will score. So we should not speak about our children with disrespect," Kumar said.

The Education Minister said he had spoken to many leaders including former chief ministers Siddaramaiah and H D Kumaraswamy on conducting the examinations.

"Kumaraswamy had insisted on postponing the examination. I personally spoke to him and apprised him about the steps taken by us. I told him that we will work with more sincerity to ensure the safety of the children," Kumar said.

The SSLC exam was scheduled to take place from March 27 but due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, it was postponed.

While the CBSE and a few other states either decided to give marks based on the students' performance in the previous examinations such as quarterly and half-yearly exams or gave general promotion to the students, Karnataka went ahead to hold the exam.

According to Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board officials, around 8.5 lakh students have enrolled this year for the SSLC examination.

The exams are being held at 2,879 exam centres across the state.

Prior to the SSLC examination, the last exam of the Second PUC was also conducted on June 18, which was also put on hold due to the lockdown.

Bengaluru, July 13: The Karnataka government today announced the cancellation of I PUC supplementary examinations across the state. 

Primary and Secondary Education minister S Suresh Kumar announced that the government took the decision in the wake of rising cases of Covid-19 and re-introduction of the lockdown. According to sources in the education department, as many as 60,000 students were supposed to appear for the examination.

Previously, the state government had decided to hold these exams at the college level in every district and publish the results by 30 July. However, the government has withdrawn even that arrangement and completely cancelled the exams. 

According to the minister, all the students who failed in the I PUC examination, shall also be promoted to II PUC. "The students who have attended all the subjects but unable to pass the exams will also be promoted to the next class," Suresh Kumar said.

However, those who missed out on the exams due to health reasons or failed in the examinations will be given a small test at the time of commencing classes for II PUC to assess their learning ability at the college level, according to the minister. "Only those students who missed out on the examination due to shortage of attendance will not be promoted to the next class," Suresh Kumar clarified.