The Karnataka government’s move to scrap marks for the third language for the SSLC exam and replace that with a grading system that will not be included in the overall score of the student has come in for criticism.
Minister for School Education and Literacy Madhu Bangarappa told the media on Friday, March 27, that students would not be passed or failed in the third language. The overall score for the SSLC exam would be reduced from 625 to 525, with the 100 score for the third language excluded from the final score. Instead, he said, students would be given grades (A, B, C, D) for the third language, which would be mentioned in the marks card.
The new rule would come into effect from the current academic year itself after considering the views of Kannada organisations and the Kannada development authority, which had said that learning a third language was becoming a burden for children, he said.
Madhu Bangarappa said that the move would largely affect students learning Hindi, as 96% of schools in the state teach Hindi as the third language.
Of 1.64 lakh students who failed the third language in 2025, 89% were learning Hindi, data from the Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board shows. Options for the third language include Hindi, Kannada, Tulu, Arabic, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu.
With the final exam to be held on March 31 for the state board, both schools and parents are in a state of confusion. However, the final order is likely to be issued on March 31.
While Kannada organisations and the KDA have hailed the decision, many others have criticised it.
The Association for the Protection of Indigenous Languages has urged the state government to reconsider.
Chidananda A Patil, vice president of the association, said, “It is necessary to review the state government’s decision on the third language from the perspective of educational interest, personality development of students and the unity of the country.”
The Associated Management for Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka also said in a letter to the Chief Minister that the sudden decision had caused confusion and that the third language was crucial to build multilingual competence.
“It’s an important tool for developing multilingual competence, besides enabling intellectual development and instilling a sense of national integration among students,” the letter said.
Former education minister S Suresh Kumar too criticised the move for its suddenness and called it a “betrayal of students’ interests”.