Bengaluru, Karnataka Minister Madhu Bangarappa said on Friday that, starting this academic year, the government will replace the marks system for the third language in the SSLC exam with a grading system that will not impact a student’s overall results.
He said that until now, the Secondary School Leaving Certificate exams had a total of 625 marks, including 100 marks for the third language. With this decision, the total will be reduced to 525 marks.
“We had decided to make this change after the assembly session. The session concluded yesterday, and I met CM Siddaramaiah this morning. He has spoken about a two-language policy in the state at several events in the past. From this year onwards, until there is a policy change or another decision is taken, the third language will be graded only,” Bangarappa said.
Speaking to reporters, the Minister for School Education and Literacy said the 100 marks previously allotted for the third language will be graded and will not impact a student’s overall results.
Noting that Hindi is not the only language taught as a third language in the state, the minister said: “While Hindi is the most commonly taught third language in Karnataka, Kannada organisations and activists have expressed concern that it is being imposed. They also pointed out that Kannadiga children find it difficult to read and write Hindi. This decision aims to ease that burden.”
He added that any decision to immediately remove the third language would affect Kannadiga teachers who teach these languages.
“I’m not referring to Hindi alone; there are about 13–14 languages taught as third languages in the state, including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Sanskrit, Marathi, Tulu, and others,” he said.
Stating that the third language exams will now be graded A, B, C, or D, Bangarappa said an official order in this regard will be issued soon.
He said there is no pass or fail in the third language exam. “It will be graded, but it will not count toward a student’s passing marks. However, students will still be required to take the exam,” he added.
Declining to comment on whether a two-language policy will be implemented in the state, the minister said such matters are to be decided by the government, cabinet, and Assembly, and he would not discuss them at this time.
In response to a question, Bangarappa said that 1.64 lakh students had failed the third language exam last year, of whom 1.48 lakh failed in Hindi. “This highlights the pressure on students… they likely struggled in other subjects as well,” he added.
