BENGALURU: The highest number of absentees during the recent II
PU exams were reported in
English paper, followed by
Kannada.
According to
PU board officials, 6.9 lakh candidates had to write 38 lakh papers in various subjects. But students didn’t appear for 1.87 lakh papers, and some were missing for more than one examination. Most absentees were private candidates or repeaters, officials added.
One of the probable reasons for English and Kannada papers reporting high absence is that students of all three streams — science, arts, commerce — have language subjects, said a lecturer who teaches English at a city-based government PU College.
Arts subjects such as history (20,012), sociology (13,580) and economics (20,772) witnessed high number of absences. In commerce, 10,011 students didn’t appear for accountancy and business studies paper saw 8,767 students failing to turn up. In science stream, subjects like physics (5,257), biology (3,966), chemistry (5,345) and maths (6,472) reported high absenteeism.
PU board director C Shikha said absenteeism is more among private students and repeaters. Private candidates could be those who have discontinued studies after I PU for various reasons and have the option of appearing for II
PU exam directly.
“As private candidates can’t take science subjects, attendance in these papers is not affected much. In arts and commerce subjects, a 2-8% absence has been noticed. But it’s not very high or low compared to that of previous years,” said Shikha.
She claimed absenteeism will have no impact on result statistics. “Results are calculated based on the number of candidates who have appeared for the exam. The department aims to conduct counselling for private students at colleges where they register for the exam and motivate them to pass II PU.
