PU colleges clueless about new exam pattern for arts, commerce

Though the first year PU classes in the state have already begun, colleges are in a fix on how to go about teaching students in the arts and commerce streams.

The Department of Pre-University Education (DPUE) has proposed to bring in a new examination pattern for the two streams from the current academic year. However, there is still no official word on how this would be done as the department is still working out the modalities.

The new examination pattern proposes to devote 80 marks for theory and 20 for internal assessments, that may be marked on the basis of various activities such as field trips, group discussions and attendance. Till now, students from both the streams wrote a 100 marks paper in the final examinations. The science stream also recently saw a change in examination pattern.

Gopal Krishna, principal of Krupanidhi PU College, Koramangala, said that issues like distribution of marks had to be sorted out if a new pattern was brought into effect.
“What content will be for five marks or three marks? What lessons do we teach and concentrate more on? These are some of the questions that need to be answered. There is still ambiguity and it is definitely quite problematic, especially when the academic year has begun,” he said.

So far, the department has conducted two meetings on the issue and has taken suggestions from lecturers of arts and commerce subjects. A lecturer of political science who was part of the meetings said, “There has been no word on the matter. The department, in any case, has a number of immediate matters to attend to such as revaluation and supplementary exams. They should be taking up the matter shortly,” she said.    

Sushama Godbole, director, DPUE, said that all subjects experts needed to arrive at a consensus on the matter, only after which the pattern could be adopted.
“Matters such as training teachers, adapting textbooks to the new syllabus need to be taken up. After this, we can give wide publicity to the change in exam pattern,” she said.
DH News Service