Karnataka Education Minister Says Students Sporting Hijab Wont Be Permitted To Appear For Second PUC Board Exams

Students appearing for their second Pre-University College(PUC) board exams sporting the Hijab will not be permitted to do so, said Karnataka Minister for Primary and Secondary Education B C Nagesh today (7 April).

Nagesh said the orders to this effect will be issued by the department of education soon and will have to be strictly followed.

As reported by One India, the Minister added that since 90 per cent of colleges in the state have prescribed uniforms and only 10 per cent don't, students will be required to follow the instructions of the respective SDMCs.

“The PUC exams will be held from 22 April to 18 May and the Hijab prohibition rule will hold good for the PUC exams like they have for the SSLC exams. We are following the uniform code as per the orders of the Karnataka High Court. Those who do not appear for the PUC exams will have an option to take the re-exams,” said Nagesh, as quoted.

The state has also prohibited the sporting of ‘any religious garment’ during the ongoing SSLC exams, while seven teachers who permitted students to appear for the exams with the Hijab were suspended for doing so. After media reports of students appearing for exams wearing Hijab at the CS Patil Girls High School in Gadag district, the teachers who were on invigilator duty were suspended from duty for not following government orders, as reported.

Earlier this week, Karnataka also decided to not task teachers who wear the Hijab with invigilation duties during the ongoing exams as it would not be morally right to permit them while barring students from sporting it to the exam hall.

The HIjab row is now in the Supreme Court after Karnataka High Court rules against the demands of petitioners saying Hijab was not an essential religious practice of Islam.

While the petitioner’s counsel had tried asking the apex court for an ‘urgent hearing’ saying that ‘examinations are going on’, a bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Krishna Murari denied the request saying ‘exams have nothing to do with the issue’. While the court refrained from giving any specific date to hear the petitions, it asked the lawyer to ’not sensationalise’.

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