35% marks must to pass SSLC exams this year

Bengaluru: Scoring 35 per cent marks is mandatory to pass Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examination this year. The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) has rolled back to the system which was in place during the pre-Covid days.

Last year, the Board reduced the minimum passing marks to 25 per cent and added grace marks to it to help a large number of students get promoted to the next class considering the high number of students who failed in the SSLC examinations.  

School Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa on Thursday said, “The introduction of new measures like webcasting, had affected the results last year and they forced the Board to reduce the qualifying marks to 25 per cent. That system will not exist anymore and it is mandatory to score 35 per cent.”

He said there would not be any grace marks and there is no question of reducing the qualifying marks either. 

The examination-1 for SSLC students will be held from March 21 to April 4. A total of 8,96,447 students have registered for this examination, including 4,61,563 boys and 4,34,884 girls from 15,881 high schools across the state.

As many as 7,14,862 students have registered for examination-1 of the second PUC scheduled which begins on March 1. This includes 3,35,468 boys and 3,78,389 girls and five transgenders. Students have registered from 5,050 PU colleges across
the state.

The Science stream has seen the highest enrollment with a total of 2,91,959 students followed by 2,29,308 for Commerce and 1,92,595 students for Arts. 

“Compared to the previous year, the number of students registered for both the second PUC and SSLC has gone up - 15,238 more students for the second PUC examination and 26,479 students for the SSLC examination,” he said.

On the safety and security measures, the minister said that CCTV cameras are mandatory at all the examination centres and adequate police security arrangements have been made to prevent malpractices. 

The minister directed the department officials to initiate stringent action against those who try to misguide or confuse students by posting question papers or question paper leakage rumours on social media. 

To increase the results of the SSLC and PUC examinations, a 20-point programme has been formulated and monthly meetings have been held at the CEO level, he noted. 

The pre-preliminary examination is being conducted from February 25. The evaluation of answer sheets will be done on the next day of the examination, he said. 

Madhu Bangarappa hinted at the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) learning at government schools and pre-university colleges. However, refusing to provide further details, the minister said that it is likely to be announced in the budget.

“We have requested Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to prioritise teacher recruitment and school infrastructure in the budget. We have asked for 5,000 school buildings and the appointment of 50,000 teachers,” the minister said.