-Reshma Ravishanker

Although the government has prescribed no dress code for invigilators, managements of several schools have approached the government saying it is only righteous if they followed what was prescribed for students, said Karnataka’s minister for primary and secondary education, BC Nagesh.

Responding to a query pertaining to the wearing of Hijabs in the upcoming PU exams, he said that the state government did not impose an explicit ban on teachers wearing hijab to classes or exams.

“When students are following a certain dress code the high court has asked them to and not wearing any religious attire, managements feels it is only morally right for teachers to follow suit,” he said.

Sources said that managements of some pre-university colleges have urged lecturers to also appear for invigilation in no attire of religious significance

The second PU Board exams will be held between April 22 and May 18 across the state and this year, over 6.84 lakh students have registered to appear for the boards. Of these, 60.05 lakh are regular candidates who have enrolled into colleges while 21,928 will appear as private candidates.

Of the total registrations, 3.46 lakh are male students and 3.37 are female. Students from 5,241 colleges will appear for exams in 1076 examination centres. Nagesh said that a meeting was held with the home department regarding the tightening of security around exam centers. Section 144 will be imposed.

So far as the dress code is concerned, Nagesh said that students must follow the dress code as prescribed by their school management committees, and also bear in mind the Karnataka HC order on Hijab. He said that although some College Development Monitoring Committees have not prescribed uniforms and it is not mandated for private candidates, no religious attire will be allowed in exam halls. 

Also read: Karnataka: Staff suspended for allowing Hijab clad girls in exam hall