A photo of the timetable for the upcoming Class 10 Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) exams in Karnataka with one date highlighted is being shared with a false communal claim that the Science exam on March 1 has been scheduled for the afternoon, to allow Muslim students to offer prayers as it is a Friday.
Karnataka is set to hold board exams for Class 10 starting from February 26, 2024 till March 3, 2024. The state will also be holding board examinations for the Second Pre University (PU) exams i.e. class 12 exams from March 1 to March 22, 2024.
While the timing for all class 10 exams is 10.15 AM, the science paper is scheduled to be held at 2.00 PM in the afternoon. This part about the difference in the Class 10 Science exam timing on March 1, has been highlighted in the schedule, by several X and Facebook users. The posts claim that this was a move by the Congress led Karnataka government as March 1, is a Friday and they wanted to let Muslim students offer prayers.
A photo of the schedule in Kannada, was posted on X by the verified handle Shashank Shekhar Jha (@shashank_ssj) with the caption, "Karnataka, 10th boards exam time table released. Monday to Saturday- 10:15 to 1:15/1:30. But on Friday- 2:00 to 5:15 (because of #Namaz?!) At every step, Karnataka govt is reminding citizens of being pro-Muslim"
BOOM has previously debunked misinformation posted by Jha on X.
Click here to view, and here for an archive
The same viral screenshot was posted by the verified X handle Chakravarty Sulibele (@astitvam) with the caption, "Karnataka state 10th standard exam time table released. All the exams in the morning session but for Friday. Why? Oh.. time for Namaz?"
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The same false claim was carried by Kannada news outlets Vistara news, and their tweeted was reposted on X by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Karnataka's official handle.
BJP Karnataka later deleted their post. (Click here to view an archive of the post)
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the exam schedule issued by the Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) has a special note added, that the science exam on March 1, has been scheduled for the afternoon as there is also a Karnataka Board Pre University (PUC) Exam for the same day, and some schools are exam centres for both examinations. That March 1, is a Friday is incidental and not a reason for the change in exam timings.
On checking the KSEAB's official website for the Class 10 exam timetable, at the bottom of page 2, we can see this explanation added. The note reads, "As 2nd PUC Examination-1 will be held on 01.03.2024, some of the Composite PU Colleges & Karnataka Public Schools are examination centers for the PUC examination. Hence Science subject Preparatory Examination of SSLC is scheduled on 01.03.2024 afternoon session."
The timetable is available both in English and Kannada. Below is the English version with note no 2 highlighted.
Click here to view
We also checked the second PU examination timetable on the KSEAB website, and found that the second PU exam for 'Kannada and Arabic' languages is scheduled at 10.15 am to 1.15 pm on March 1, 2024. We also saw that all the other exams for the second PU are to be held at the same timing of 10.15 AM to 1.15 AM and that no special exemption was made for the Kannada and Arabic language exams on the said day.
The PUC exam that has been scheduled on Friday morning on March 1, 2024, can be seen highlighted below:
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Additionally, we also found several news reports quoting Karnataka Minister for school education and literacy Madhu Bangarappa, who also denied the viral claim and clarified that the SSLC preparatory exam on Friday has been set for the afternoon as the II pre-university exam is also starting on the same day.
"It will be a clash in terms of logistics. Since II PU is the more important exam than the preparatory SSLC, it is being held first. BJP has no better business than creating some talk around this," TOI quoted Bangarappa in their February 6, 2024 report.