Around 40,434 class 10 students in Karnataka have not registered for the SSLC annual exam-1 scheduled for March-April 2026. According to the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL), 8,40,196 students from government, aided, and private schools have registered, but only 7,99,762 met the December 9 deadline. Many unregistered students attend unauthorised schools or schools without recognition renewal. Dropouts and students with low attendance are also among them. The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) is worried about this large number of missing registrations. It has urged DSEL officials to check all high schools across the state. They must verify which students have not registered, why, and act quickly to enroll eligible students. Sources said steps would be taken to bring back dropouts as well. A senior KSEAB official said, "Every year, around 5,000 to 15,000 students from unauthorised schools and schools that have not done recognition renewal are facing problems as they cannot register for the exam. The children are suffering due to the mistakes of the school management. Children from such schools are strictly not allowed to register for the SSLC exams. These children are registered in the names of nearby government or aided schools and allowed to take the exam. But this year, the number of students who have not registered is very high. Therefore, the officials have been instructed to look into the reason why such a large number of students are not registering for the exams."