‘Pass me for love, Sir’: Karnataka students resort to emotional bribes in SSLC exams

In a bizarre yet telling glimpse into exam stress among teenagers, several Class 10 students in Karnataka’s Belagavi district resorted to emotional appeals and low-stakes bribes — all scribbled inside their answer sheets — during the recent SSLC (Secondary School Leaving Certificate) board exams.

Teachers invigilating the exams in Chikkodi were stunned to discover handwritten notes begging for mercy marks, promises of money, and even appeals in the name of young love.

One student pleaded, “I will only continue my love if I pass,” placing the weight of a budding romance squarely on the evaluator’s red pen. Another upped the emotional ante, writing, “Please pass me, my love is in your hands,” with a crisp ₹500 note tucked alongside the answer sheet for good measure.

The creativity didn’t stop there. In a particularly memorable appeal, a student offered the teacher a tea break on him: “Have tea with this ₹500, sir, and please pass me.”

Another hopeful examinee wrote plainly, “If you pass me, I will give you money,” while one student highlighted their family’s stakes, saying, “If you don’t pass me, my parents won’t send me to college.”

The pressure to perform in board exams is widely known, but these incidents reflect the growing desperation among students trying to cope — with some leaning on sheer jugaad in the hopes of securing a pass.

Sacred thread controversy mars CET exams

In a separate incident that has sparked debate across Karnataka, students appearing for the Common Entrance Test (CET) were allegedly asked to remove their sacred threads — or janivara — at an exam center in Shivamogga’s Adichunchanagiri PU College.

One student in Bidar was reportedly turned away from writing his Maths paper after he refused to remove the thread, despite pleading that it posed no security threat. According to officials quoted by PTI, the student had worn the sacred thread during his Physics and Chemistry papers the previous day without issue.

Later that afternoon, the same student was allowed to write the Biology exam while still wearing the thread.

Meanwhile, in Shivamogga, three more students were allegedly asked to remove their janivaras. While one refused and was allowed to sit for the exam, two others reportedly complied.

Police said no formal complaints have been filed so far. The exam center authorities clarified that the college merely provided the premises and had no role in conducting the exams. Officials added that students were only asked to remove kashi dhara — a wrist thread — and not the sacred thread worn across the body.