First PU science seats filled at many private colleges in Karnataka

Bengaluru: Less than a week after results of the 2026 SSLC examinations are announced, parents and students who made a beeline for pre-university college admissions were shocked to learn that seats for the science stream had already been filled at most institutions.

In cities such as Bengaluru, Mangaluru and Mysuru, private unaided PU colleges start the admission process much prior to the commencement of the SSLC final examination, enrolling students based on their performance in the preparatory exams. This is more so in the case of institutions offering integrated coaching for NEET, CET, JEE exams, alongside teaching the PU syllabus.

Although students are worried about the situation, further compounded by the record pass percentage – 94.1 per cent– this year in SSLC, the Department of Pre-University Education has assured them that there is no cause for concern.

“The apprehension that the record pass percentage will invariably lead to a shortfall in the number of PU seats is ill-informed. During the pandemic, the pass percentage was 100 per cent, but there were no issues during admissions that year,” remarked PU Department Director Bharath S.

More colleges

Pointing out that more than 400 new PU colleges had been established in the past three years, he added, “Science stream is available at 100 more government PU colleges this year.  There will be no shortage of seats, since we are allowing colleges to apply for seat enhancement online.”

Referring to to the impressive performance of government college students in the second PU exams this year, Bharath called on parents to enrol their children in state-run institutions. 

Meanwhile, colleges are seeking the government’s nod for increasing intake of students. “We will allow colleges to increase their intake if they have the required infrastructure, and fulfil other criteria,” Bharath said.

Given the record pass percentage this year, stakeholders are concerned about private-unaided PU colleges, which account for 60% of all the PU institutions in the state, exploiting the situation. They emphasised the need to improve enrolment at government PU colleges, where admission has been on a downward spiral.  

Educationist and lecturer Z N Jagirdar called for restricting intake at private-unaided PU colleges so as to ensure fair distribution of admissions at government, private-aided and unaided colleges. He also called for the enforcement of a roster-based admission system to ensure seats for SC/ST, OBC, EWS and girls were mandatorily reserved across colleges.

Karnataka State Pre-University Lecturers’ Association president Ningegowda A H said, “Private-unaided colleges make up 3,623 of the 6,177 PU colleges in the state. The government is allowing new colleges to be established without following proper norms. Of the 12,198 sanctioned teaching posts across 1,319 government PU colleges, 5,500 are vacant. Nearly 555 colleges have no principals.”  

Additional Chief Secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy V Rashmi Mahesh opined that government PU colleges were ‘underutilising’ their resources. “We are integrating science courses at government PU colleges, apart from imparting skill-based education. We are also offering training for competitive examinations, without adding to the parents’ financial burden,” she said.