Owing to the upcoming Karnataka polls and a need to improve academic performance of students, Pre-University (PU) colleges in Karnataka will commence classes in May this year.
Usually, classes for PU colleges would commence in June. Second year students would begin their academic year in the first week of June, while first year students would begin attending classes during the second week of June. Their academic year has been advanced by a month this year.
A report in The Hindu mentions that classes for second year PU students will begin from May 2, while classes for the first year PU students will begin on May 14. “The exams for PU students were held earlier this year due to the upcoming Karnataka assembly election. Exams for the first year students ended on February 21. Students had 69 days of vacation since then,” C. Shika, Director of Department of Pre-University Education said.
“PU students usually get more than three months of holidays every year. This leads to lack of proper time in conducting classes. More classes would ensure improvement in performance during examinations. We are planning to commence classes in May to ensure added number of days,” an official told Times of India.
Karnataka has a gross enrolment ratio of 26.5%, while Tamil Nadu’s enrolment rate is 46.9%. The low pass percentage of Karnataka as compared to its neighbouring states led to this decision.
However, this move has become a cause for concern among students from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE). The deadline for results of these examinations of class ten would be later and prevent them from applying for admissions at the allotted time. “We have extended the date of application for students from other boards and for those who clear the supplementary exams,” Shika said.
Holidays for lecturers were supposed to begin on March 18, but they have just ended their evaluation process in April. “Evaluations for exams ended on April 11. We lecturers have only less than a month to relax. We have planned to boycott the first day,” Thimmaiah Purle, President of Karnataka State Pre-University College Lecturer’s Association said.
Lecturers have expressed their disapproval about early commencement of classes. “Winter vacations have been reduced by seven days since last year. We will now have to resume work soon after completing the evaluation and revaluation process. This move does not benefit us in any way,” a lecturer from a PU college at Malleshwaram said.