Free CET, NEET, JEE online coaching to be extended to all government, aided PU colleges in Karnataka : Madhu Bangarappa

Minister for School Education Madhu Bangarappa said the free online coaching for CET, NEET, and JEE for admission to engineering, medical, and other professional courses will be extended to all government and aided Pre-University Colleges (PU) in the State for the current academic year.

During an interactive session at The Hindu office on Thursday, the Minister said, “Last year, online coaching for the entrance examinations was provided to only 25,000 selected students in government and aided PU colleges. Since there is a huge demand for online coaching among students, it will be extended to all government and aided students in the State this year.”

“Most of the students studying in government and aided PU colleges belong to economically and socially backward families. Due to financial constraints, they cannot join private coaching centres. From 2024-25, the State government has implemented a free online coaching scheme for them. Last year, a student of a government PU college who received free online coaching joined IIT this year,” Mr. Madhu Bangarappa said.

“All students who enroll for online training will be given separate login IDs to participate in the classes. In addition, free videos related to the course will be provided. Students from private colleges will also be able to receive this training externally. They will be given the opportunity to ask questions online and get answers,” he said.

Annual Exam 2 and 3 may be withdrawn

Minister for School Education Madhu Bangarappa said that after recording 75% results in SSLC and II PU, annual exam 1, 2, and 3 may be withdrawn in a phased manner.

“To prevent malpractices in the exams and provide quality results, SSLC and PU examinations have been conducted strictly through webcasting since last year. Due to this, malpractices have come down. However, this has affected the results and last year, the SSLC examination results saw a huge decline. The pass marks were reduced, and the results were announced by providing 20 grace marks. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had expressed displeasure over the grace marks being given and had given a target of 75% results without any grace marks in the coming years,” he said.

“Every year, about 2.76 lakh students fail in SSLC and II PU annual exam 1. If they are given another chance, they too pass in just one month. Hence, annual exam 1 and 2 have been implemented. We have already recorded 73% results from exam 1 and 2 of SSLC and II PU this year. If 75% results are recorded in annual exam 1 in the coming years, we will decide on withdrawing annual exam 2 and 3 after discussions,” he added.

Pass marks to be brought down to 33

Madhu Bangarappa said that it has already been decided to reduce the pass marks of SSLC examination from 35 to 33 on the model of CBSE schools, and it will be implemented from the current academic year itself.

“Pass marks of 33 have been fixed for all central curriculum schools across the country, including CBSE. This is a student-friendly measure and will reduce the burden on children. It has been decided to reduce the pass marks of SSLC students to 33, and a final order will be issued soon,” he said.

“At the same time, there have also been demands to reduce the first language marks for SSLC students from 125 to 100. However, this is a very sensitive issue, I have to take care of my mother tongue. There is a big history behind setting 125 marks for the first language. So, an appropriate decision will be taken after discussing this with experts and the government,” he added.