DigitEye India Fact Checkers
Soon after the Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) released the schedule for preparatory exams for the 10th Class on February 2, the social media witnessed a surge in objections to not holding an exam on Friday morning, terming it as a Congress government’s move to appease minorities.
Karnataka state 10th standard exam time table released. All the exams in the morning session but for Friday. Why?
Oh.. time for Namaz? pic.twitter.com/zi5daLIoyr— Chakravarty Sulibele (@astitvam) February 4, 2024
The caption of one such tweet reads:“Karnataka state 10th standard exam time table released. All the exams in the morning session but for Friday. Why? Oh.. time for Namaz?” Chakravarty Sulibele’s tweet has received over 3 lakh views in a day.
The same tweet has been shared here and here with varying captions.
FACT CHECK
Digiteye India took it up for fact-checking and searched for the schedule. The INC Karnataka responded to the issue stating: “On the first day of March, the SSLC (Secondary School Leaving Certificate) exam will be conducted in the afternoon due to the commencement of the PUC (Pre-University) exams on the same day. As a result of the absence of the PUC exam on the following days, the SSLC exam will begin in the morning. To avoid the shortage and chaos at exam centers, the following procedure is in place…”
ಕ್ಯಾಕರಿಸಿ ಉಗಿರಿ ಬೋಳಿ ಮಗನಿಗೆ. ಒದ್ದು ಒಳಗಾಕಿ ಹಂಗೆ. 🤢
pic.twitter.com/zPKJXCH7L9— Mal-Lee | ಮಲ್ಲಿ (@MallikarjunaNH) February 6, 2024
Karnataka education minister Madhu Bangarappa responded to the claims saying that logic behind the examination timings has been made to benefit all the students. While the class 12 (PUC) exam was scheduled in the morning on March 1, 2024, the 10th exam was scheduled in the afternoon.
On further checking the 10th exam schedule, it becomes evident that March 8, which happened to be a Maha Shivratri (Hindu festival), no exam was scheduled. Since both SSLC and PUC exams are being held on March 1, they are scheduled in the morning and in the afternoon.
Moreover, the PUC exam timetable was scheduled on Friday, March 15 and Friday, March 22, in the first half of the day, refuting the basic logic behind the allegations that the SSLC exam schedule was put in the afternoon to appease minority students to perform Namaz.
Hence, the claim that the SSLC exam timing for the preparatory phase on March 1 has been adjusted to suit Muslim students who go for prayer on Friday is false.
Claim: The Karnataka SSLC preparatory exam schedule on March 1 has been fixed in the afternoon to help Muslim students offer Namaz on Friday.
Conclusion: False. The schedule has been designed to hold the PUC exam in the morning and SSLC exam in the afternoon on Friday, March 1, 2024.
Rating: Misrepresentation — 
