Necessary to hold 2nd year PU exams: Karnataka Education Minister
Bengaluru: Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar on Sunday said it was necessary to hold second year Pre-University (class 12) exams, in the interest of students' future.
An appropriate decision will be taken in the days to come, considering various aspects and the Centre's suggestions, he said.
The Minister, who participated in the meeting of the Education Ministers of all states organised by the Centre's Ministry of Education, stressed the need to hold exams for second PU students in some way as they prepare for professional courses.
Earlier this month, the Karnataka government had postponed the second PUC (class 12) examinations which were scheduled to begin from May 24, citing surge in COVID cases as the reason.
Holding the exams, by simplifying the process after COVID completely comes under control, will also be adequate, the Minister was quoted as saying by his office in a statement.
The number of coronavirus cases is high everywhere, it has been decided for now that once the situation comes under control in Karnataka, giving 15-20 days time, dates for exams be announced in advance," he said.
It has also been planned to provide an opportunity for students who will be unable to attend exams due to COVID reasons to take it up, during the current year itself.
Noting that many were of the view that the exam process has to be simplified, Kumar said 45 days are required to complete the exam process in such a manner.
Karnataka has the experience of holding SSLC (class 10) exams last year amid COVID, he pointed out.
Though it will not be a major issue to hold second PU exams with this experience, an appropriate decision will be taken in the days to come in the interest of students' future, considering aspects like students learning, parents mindset, suggestion from the centre and overall preparatory measures.
The process of preparing the question paper for second PU exams has been completed in the state, the Minister said.
The number of exam centres will be increased, and all the preparatory measures are being taken for the safe conduct of exams, whenever it happens.
"In case the exams can be held in July, it will be possible to announce results in August, so NEET, JEE, CET, ICAR and other competitive exams can be held on appropriate dates in August," he suggested .
According to the statement, at the meeting attended by Union Ministers like Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani among others, Ministers from several states expressed their opinion in favour of holding exams.
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Cong performed better in Kerala, anti-incumbency trends influenced WB, TN: CM Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said the Congress had largely met or exceeded expectations in several States, even as results in some regions reflected shifting voter sentiments.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said the party accepted the mandate in Assam while performing better than anticipated in Kerala.
He also pointed to possible anti-incumbency trends influencing outcomes in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
“In Assam, we got the expected result, and we accept the people’s mandate. In Kerala, we have won more seats than expected. We anticipated around 76 to 80, but we have gone up to around 95,” Siddaramaiah said.
In West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, there may have been an anti-incumbency trend, and that could have influenced the results, he added.
Siddaramaiah also extended his congratulations to a new political entrant in Tamil Nadu, noting the emergence of a different electoral dynamic in the State.
“I congratulate the new entrant who has achieved success there,” he added.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said electoral outcomes in some States had diverged from the party’s internal assessments, reflecting evolving voter expectations.
“We expected a certain trend, but the results have been different. Political reading was wrong in some places,” he said.
“People were looking for change in some States, and that has been reflected in the results,” Shivakumar, who is also the Congress Karnataka unit president, said.
Referring to Kerala, he said the Congress-led alliance had benefited from public sentiment.
“There was already an expectation based on local body elections, and people had shown confidence in us. That has translated into a strong result,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.
On Tamil Nadu, he acknowledged that the scale of political shift had come as a surprise.
“We expected to secure around 30 to 40 per cent of the vote share, but such a major shift was not anticipated. It shows that voter expectations were different,” he said.
Shivakumar added that electoral outcomes underscored the need for better political assessment in future.
“We have to understand these changes carefully. Political reading cannot go wrong like this,” he said.
