First SSLC examination passes off smoothly as students comply with dress code

Students of schools where hijab is part of uniform were allowed to wear the garment

The Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examinations began across Karnataka on March 28. Around 8.73 lakh students have enrolled for the examinations that will be completed on April 11.

At the centre of this year’s examinations is the hijab row. The Karnataka Government had stated categorically that all students should appear for the examination wearing their school uniforms, sans the hijab.

Students across Karnataka complied with the dress code. In many schools, including those in Bengaluru, a room had been allotted for students to remove their hijab before entering the examination halls. Students removed the hijab where it is not a part of the school’s dress code. In the case of schools where hijab is a part of the uniform, students appeared for the examination wearing the garment.

The exams went about smoothly in Udupi district, which is the epicentre of hijab controversy. Students followed the school dress code while appearing for the paper, Udupi Deputy Commissioner M. Kurma Rao told The Hindu.

A total of 29,712 students are appearing for the SSLC examinations in 99 centres in Dakshina Kannada while 14,022 students are appearing for the examinations in 58 centres in Udupi district.

Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra had issued a circular on March 27 evening reiterating that students of government schools should come to the examination centre in the dress prescribed by the school. The list of students of schools, which has hijab as part of the uniform, should be made available by the respective Block Education Officer to the examination centres. The teachers and education officials at these centres had been asked to verify the names of such students and allow them to appear for the examination with the hijab.

Accordingly, Muslim girls from aided and unaided schools were allowed to attempt the exam at the Karnataka Public School in Montepadavu in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada. It is among examination centres in the taluk that has mix of students from schools which do not have hijab as part of the uniform and those which allow the garment as part of the uniform. A total of 325 students turned up at the examination centre.