The II Pre-University exam results announced on Tuesday were the best since 2001 with an overall pass percentage of 61.80, a 0.07 percentage point improvement over 2019's result of 61.73%.
Though senior officials say this is the highest ever pass percentage since the department's inception in 1971-72, the department was able to provide data only for the past 20 years.
The examinations commenced in March and concluded on June 18 due to the nationwide lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The results are available on www.karresults.nic.in and will be sent to colleges through the online portal. Successful students received their results on their mobiles.
"Despite fear and pressure, students appeared for the last exam after a long break. The credit goes to students and I congratulate them and wish them good luck," said Primary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar, addressing the media.
The results have improved by around 10 percentage points over three years from 52.38% in 2017, 59.56% in 2018 and 61.73% in 2019.
In all, 6,75,277 students appeared for the exams, of whom 4,17,297 passed. Consoling unsuccessful students, Suresh Kumar said, "Those who could not clear the exams need not be depressed. They can take up the supplementary exams and be mentally strong. I request parents not to compare their children with others and demoralise them."
Meanwhile, the performance of students from the Arts stream has seen a steep dip. From last year's 50.53%, it went down to 41.27%. The Science stream saw an improvement with 76.2% as against previous year's 66.8%. Commerce results dipped by a few percentage points to 65.52% from last year's 66.39%.
Girls outshone boys again. Rural students fared better than their urban counterparts.
TOPPERS
Arts: Students from Indu Independent PU College, Kottur, in Ballari secured the first three positions. Karegowda Dasanagoudra secured 594 out of 600 and stood first for state and Swamy S M scored 592 while Mahamad Rafiq stood third with 591.
Science: The first position was shared by two students Abhijna Rao from Vidyodaya PU College Udupi and Prerana MN from Vidyamandir Independent PU college Bengaluru with 596 out of 600. Akanksha A Pai from RV PU college Bengaluru secured 595 and was second while four studentsu shared third the position with 594.
Commerce: Aravind Srivatsa from Vidyamandir Independent PU college in Malleswaram Bengaluru secured 598 out of 600 to top the state. Brunda J M from Sri BGS Girls PU College Mysuru secured 596 and stood second. Sindhu G M from Government PU College Sagar secured 595 for the third spot.
Udupi, DK on top
Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts shared the first position with an overall pass percentage of 90.71. They were followed by Kodagu and Uttara Kannada with 81.53% and 80.97% respectively.
Udupi had topped the state even during 2019 and was second in 2018. Dakshina Kannada, which was on top in 2018, slipped to second spot with 90.91% in 2019. Even in 2017, Udupi was in the first place.
Vijayapura at the bottom
Vijayapura district scored the lowest pass percentage of 54.22, dropping by 14.33 percentage points against last year's 68.55%. This is followed by Raichur and Chitradurga with 56.22% and 56.8% respectively.