No More Early Starts: Karnataka Sets Uniform Saturday School Hours | Here's The New Timing

Last Updated:June 27, 2026, 06:45 IST

Karnataka schools will now follow one Saturday schedule statewide — the education department has issued a directive covering all government, aided and private institutions.

Karnataka’s school education department has standardised Saturday school hours for all government, aided and private institutions across the state, fixing a single four-hour window from 8.30am to 12.30pm. The move ends a patchwork of timings that varied across districts and had left parents confused about when to send their children to school.

Until now, Saturday hours differed school to school — some ran classes from 8am to noon, others from 7.30am to 11.30am. The education department has now directed all schools to follow the unified schedule, according to Public News. The change is also expected to help teachers comply with the government’s mandatory online attendance system, since a common start time makes punctual check-ins easier to enforce statewide.

What Does The New Saturday Schedule Mean For Students And Parents?

Students no longer need to wake up at varying early hours depending on their school. With classes now beginning at 8.30am and wrapping up by 12.30pm across all institutions, the department says both children and parents stand to benefit from the predictability.

Will Teachers Benefit Too?

Yes. The education department says the standardised timing will help teachers mark online attendance accurately and on time — a compliance requirement the state government has already made mandatory.

NCERT Adds Emergency, SIR To Class 9 Social Science Textbook

Meanwhile, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has included the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process — along with a chapter on India’s Emergency period — in its newly released Class 9 textbook for the current academic year, triggering debate.

The new social science textbook, titled Understanding Society: India and Beyond, marks the first time SIR has appeared in school curriculum, according to reports. The book, designed for Class 9 students, covers the challenges faced by Indian democracy including the Emergency, alongside the electoral revision process.

Why Is The NCERT Textbook Change Drawing Attention?

The inclusion of SIR — a voter roll verification exercise conducted by the Election Commission — in a school textbook is being seen as a first. Combined with content on the Emergency, the new chapter has sparked debate over what political and electoral themes belong in school curricula.

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