No separate exams for students who boycott ongoing examinations
NT Correspondent
The Education Department will not conduct separate examinations for students who boycott the ongoing exams citing the hijab issue, clarified Primary and Secondary Education Minister B.C. Nagesh.
Talking to reporters here on Tuesday, the minister said this rule was applicable not only to hijab clad students but also to saffron shawl wearing students.
If they miss the exam, the department will not hold the examination separately for them at any cost, he added. The minister said the interim order of a three-judge bench of the High Court of Karnataka on the issue of wearing the hijab and saffron shawl is still applicable in the state. But some girl students were defying this order without realising the complications in future. Congress leaders were taking the side of these students, he claimed.
On the reopening of educational institutions in Shivamogga City, Nagesh said the deputy commissioner would decide on it. However, a day’s holiday was declared for schools/colleges in view of the curfew in the whole of Shivamogga City following the brutal murder of a Bajrang Dal activist Sunday night. Most probably, all schools/colleges would begin functioning from Wednesday, he added.
The minister also claimed that the Congress government headed by Siddaramaiah withdrew cases filed against ‘communal goondas’ in the five years from 2013 to 2018. Incidents like that in Shivamogga could have been prevented if the cases against them had not been withdrawn. “People are watching the statements issued by Congress leaders. These leaders are making a big issue of K.S. Eshwarappa’s statement on the saffron flag,” he remarked.