A huge spike in absenteeism for the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examinations this year is being attributed to a loss of nerve and the bunking spree among students, according to sources in the Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB).
According to KSEEB data, at least 15,487 students remained absent for the SSLC exams in 2022.
The education department had lifted the mandatory 75 per cent minimum school attendance for students to be eligible to take the SSLC board exam towards the end of the academic year and most of the students who had much lesser attendance than that had preferred to bunk the exams too.
Moreover, a large number of students registered for the 2022 SSLC exams (8,20,888) after their preceding batch (2021) saw all the students being “passed” to PU-I due to a pandemic-impacted academic year (2020-21). Many students who registered for the 2021-22 SSLC exams did not attend as the paper has regular questions, unlike the previous year when only multiple choice questions were asked. Most of the students who remained absent had decided not to attend the exams on learning that the examination would be a regular one, as they lacked the courage and due to the fear of failing, according to KSEEB officials.
As per documents available with The New Indian Express, before the pandemic began, in 2017-18, among 7,45,487 students who registered for SSLC exams, 16,679 students were not permitted to write exams as they did not have the minimum attendance of 75 per cent. Only 4,203 students were absent and 7,41,284 (99.43 per cent) were present.
In 2018-19, among 7,39,477 students who registered for SSLC, 16,343 students were barred from the exams due to attendance shortage, while 3,739 students were absent and 7,35,738 students (99.49 per cent) wrote the exams.
In 2019-20, among 7,47,556 students who registered, 19,247 students were barred due to attendance shortage, while 6,374 students were absent and 7,41,182 students (99.15 per cent) took the exams.
Post the onset of the pandemic, 2020-21 saw 7,84,296 students registered for SSLC exams. The state government relaxed Rule 37 of the KSEEB Act 1966, to allow those not having minimum attendance of 75 per cent to be permitted for the exams. Yet, absenteeism was just 3,249 that year, while 7,81,047 students (99.58 per cent) took the exams. This was because the government order (no. EP 110 SLB 2021) allowed promoting all the students by giving minimum passing marks, KSEEB officials said.
This year, while the mandatory attendance rule was lifted, the state government did not offer the “pass every student” rule as it did last year. Many who registered hoping the government would repeat that concession this year too, lost their nerve when informed that it would be a regular exam. This led to 15,487 absentees, dropping the number of students taking the exams to 8,05,401 (98.11 per cent), KSEEB sources said.
Among the total registered students, 98.11 per cent were fresh candidates, 80.57 per cent were private fresh candidates and 78.25 per cent repeaters were present.
