Department of Pre-University Government of Karnataka on Tuesday, May 04, 2021, announced the cancellation of the first Pre-University Certificate Examination (PUC). Students shall be directly promoted to higher classes without conducting any formal exams. Furthermore, certain bridging courses shall also be organised at the beginning of the upcoming academic year 2021-22 for these students. On the same day, authorities also announced the postponement of II PUC exams to a later date. New dates shall be announced in advance to ensure that students get enough preparation time.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is gravely affecting the country resulting in the daily surge of coronavirus cases. While the situation has stabilised in Maharashtra, Karnataka has become the new epicentre state of the virus. Acknowledging this, S. Suresh Kumar, the Primary and Secondary Education Minister, stated that the first-year PU exams shall be cancelled. Hence, Class 11 students shall be promoted to higher level without any exam.
Authorities are planning to organise bridging courses for directly promoted students at the beginning of the upcoming academic year. These bridging courses shall be created with the objective of providing conceptual clarity and building their basic knowledge.
The second-year PU exam has been shifted to a later date meaning that Class 12 students have to wait for further clarification on new exam dates. According to the minister, the state education department received multiple requests from parents, students, and teachers to postpone the practical exams amid pandemic concerns. He further requested students to not be discouraged or disheartened by this news. Instead, they must continue to prepare and await the revised schedule.
While announcing these changes, Kumar also stated that lecturers who are working from home must remain in touch with their students. The reason behind this is to consistently monitor their academic progress. However, those faculty members who are involved in COVID duty must continue their work as before.
Karnataka II PUC 2021 practical tests were previously scheduled to begin on April 28, 2021. However, they were postponed amid rising COVID-19 cases and were scheduled to in June 2021 after theory papers. In light of the exams being postponed, the actual schedule for practical exams is yet to be disclosed.
The Karnataka state education department is yet to announce any changes in the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) or Class 10 examination. Currently, they are scheduled to be held from June 21, 2021, to July 05, 2021. Earlier, Kumar did shed light on the issue stating that a comprehensive and constant evaluation scheme shall be implemented to promote students of Class 1 to 9. Further clarification on this subject is yet to come from the authorities.
