Karnataka: Record 61.8% clear second PU exams, but arts a letdown

BENGALURU: Karnataka notched up its highest-ever pass percentage in II PU this year — at 61.8% — and the figure would have been higher, but for the poor performance by arts students.

While the overall pass percentage last year was just a sliver less, at 61.7%, the figure for arts fell from 51% last year to 41% this time around. Commerce dipped slightly too — from 66.4% last year to 65.5%. Only science stream, with 2.16 lakh students, saw a leap in pass percentage, from 67% to 76%.
There were four toppers — Abhijna Rao & Prerana MN in science; Aravind Srivastav in commerce and Karegouda Dasanagoudra in arts. The results were released on Tuesday morning by primary and secondary education minister S Suresh Kumar. Around 6.75 lakh students had appeared for the exam that concluded on June 18.
‘Long gap before English exam affected results’
Many colleges attributed the low pass percentage in arts to students faring badly in the English exam, which was held on June 18, after a gap of two-and-a-half months when Covid-19 cases were surging in the state. All other exams were held before the lockdown. The pass percentage in English was 74% against 80% last year.
“We have been receiving feedback that the long gap before the English exam affected results. We have to see the economics and sociology results also to confirm this. For students in rural areas, especially in the arts stream, the gap might have had an impact as they always feel English is tough for them. However, there can be variations within subjects. Some subjects that students did very well in last year, saw poor performances this year. We need time to study this,” PU director M Kanagavalli told TOI. The director said the pass results of history and sociology have come down by 5-6%. “All these impacted the arts stream performance.”
“Many arts students are poor in English. The paper was postponed by two-and-a-half months. It was not easy for them to stay abreast with the subject. Though our students did well, the gap created by Covid-19 appears to have had its impact,” said MN Veerabhadrappa, principal of Indu Independent PU College, Ballari, where arts topper Karegouda studied.
“We will have to study the reasons and strive to improve it next year,” minister Suresh Kumar said at the press conference.
The number of subject centums surged after a drop last year.