In what may come as relief to some high school students and private school managements, the Department of Public Instruction has relaxed the criteria that mandates a minimum requirement of 25 students in class ten if a school has to be registered to field candidates for the SSLC exam.
The move is likely to help many private schools which see a decline in the number of students in the higher classes.
D. Shashi Kumar, General Secretary of the Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka, said, “Students drop out in higher classes as education is not compulsory. Moreover, the student strength is low due to the mushrooming of a large number of private schools in urban areas.”
It would also end the practice of tagging of candidates to other schools if a particular school does not have permission to field them, he added.