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Journalism of Courage
The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) which is the examination authority in Karnataka for conducting important examinations, including the second pre-university (PU) examination, is leaving not stones unturned to improve the pass percentage this year, after it recorded just above 60 per cent consistently for the last three years. In 2022, the pass percentage was recorded at 61 per cent.
In order to improve the pass percentage and the overall outcome of the examination which is scheduled between March 9 and 29, the department has introduced a slew of reforms, including adding more multiple choice questions, flexibility in granting grace marks and allowing students to apply for revaluation, even if they get one mark more during the revaluation process.
According to Ramachandran R, chairman of the KSEAB, this year there will be a total of 20 multiple choice questions of one mark for some subjects while other subjects will have two mark questions.
“This is being introduced in line with the CBSE and neighbouring state board models. We realised that the pass percentage has not improved significantly in the previous years, hence we are introducing this reform,” said Ramachandran.
Karnataka School Education and Literacy minister B C Nagesh had announced in February that the state government has decided to revise the criteria for revaluation of PU examination papers. Now, students will be eligible for revaluation even if they get one mark more during the revaluation process.
Earlier, a student applying for revaluation would be considered only if he or she got six marks or more than his or her total score in a paper during revaluation.
The board will also provide 5 per cent grace marks in any two subjects where a student has not cleared the passing mark. Earlier, a student was granted grace marks for only one core subject or one language.
In fact, the students appearing for the second PU examination this year were all promoted in 2021 (when they were in Class 10 or SSLC) due to the pandemic. The pass percentage then was 100 per cent. The state government had conducted an objective-based examination during the pandemic and as a result, the number of candidates who registered for the second PU examination in 2023 increased compared to last year. This year, a total of 6,34,616 candidates registered for the examination compared to 6,00,577 in 2021-22.
