Karnataka is grappling with a high rate of school dropouts and the challenge is so steep that lowering the pass marks in SSLC (Class 10) and pre-university exams seems to be the solution.
This is what the Karnataka Administrative Reforms Commission-2, headed by retired chief secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar, has recommended in its latest report submitted to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday.
“Minimum marks to be secured for passing in SSLC theory exam may be reduced from 28 to 15 or 20,” the Commission said. “Minimum marks to be scored in theory exam in PU are 21, whereas it is 15 in Tamil Nadu,” it said, adding that the government could consider lowering the bar.
The Commission noted that the pass percentages in the SSLC and the PU exams in Karnataka are much lower when compared with neighbouring states.
The report pointed out that the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in higher secondary (PU) education in Karnataka is 52.1 per cent as against 83 per cent in Kerala, 73.2 per cent in Tamil Nadu, 67 per cent in Maharashtra, 57.2 per cent in Telangana and 52.2 per cent in Andhra Pradesh.
The dichotomy is that Karnataka’s enrollment rate in elementary education is 105 per cent, higher than other states except Telangana (106.3 per cent). This means a lot of students do not make it from elementary to secondary, and from secondary to PU.
A huge section of students from SC/ST communities fail in the SSLC exams, the Commission said.
“The largest number of students who drop out of the education system occurs at the PUC stage,” the report said, adding that the average PU pass percentage in Karnataka is lower than Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra by 30 percentage points and 22 percentage points in Kerala.
“If the PU exam pass percentage in Karnataka had been closer to the average in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra, nearly a lakh more students would have got a chance to apply for better jobs or pursue higher education. This is a great societal loss,” it said. The Commission recommended introducing 20 per cent marks under internal assessment in social science and language subjects for SSLC, PU Arts and Commerce students. It further asked the government to introduce Multiple Choice Questions in SSLC and PU exams for 15 marks (science) and 20 marks (social science and languages).
Another measure to reduce dropout rate is to merge 6,796 government lower primary, higher primary and high schools with 3,161 composite/cluster high schools or Karnataka Public Schools located within a distance of 100m of one another, the Commission said.