Its a dismal scenario

Updated on: Monday, June 01, 2009

Consider this. The pass percentage for the Pre-University course (or equivalent State board) results for the neighbouring State of Tamil Nadu in 2009 stands at a proud 83 per cent. Further south, Kerala registered an average of 76.46 per cent this year. Compare this to Karnataka which has been struggling over the past few years to make the 50 per cent mark.

The State in 2009 recorded an abysmally low pass percentage of 43 per cent, a two per cent increase from last year’s numbers. Of the 6.2 lakh students who took the examination this year, only 2,62,802 have made the cut. The results have been on the decline since 2006 when a pass percentage of 53 per cent was declared, followed by 50.6 per cent in 2007. So, why does a State, that prides itself on being called a “higher education hub,” struggle to even cross the 50 per cent barrier when it comes to its pre-university students?

The PU department, when faced with this question every year, shifts the blame on to the SSLC department which trains students to take questions in the objective format. Notwithstanding these repeated allegations, there has been no move to rectify this or re-asses the training given at the school level.
Exceptions

One argument that counters the PU department’s simplistic allegation, as articulated by the former Pre-University Commissioner S.G. Hegde, is that a few districts, notably those along the coastal belt, continue to fare exceedingly well. While Dakshina Kannada and Udupi improved on their last year’s record by no less than four percent finishing at 80.92 and 80.62 respectively, Uttara Kannada finished third at a distant 65.16 per cent. Compare this to several districts in North Karnataka which registered pass percentages as low as 28 and 29 per cent, and the SSLC excuse falls through, point out academics.

About 75 colleges in the State recorded a zero pass percentage, of which only 28 are government colleges. “Private colleges in several smaller towns are money-making outfits, and they have been given permission without any regulation,” says Govindaraj, a pre-university college lecturer from Gadag. Interestingly, 25 of these are concentrated in northern parts of Karnataka, and 27 of the 46 private colleges which figure on this infamous list also belong to the same region. Gulbarga, which finished last but one in terms of pass percentage (29.1 per cent), has 14 “zero pass” colleges.

So, what is it that goes wrong, consistently so, in these areas? It is worth mentioning that while the Bangalore South and Bangalore North education districts recorded a pass percentage of 62 and 61 per cent, rural Bangalore recorded about 47 per cent. A PU department official, who spoke to The Hindu, pointed out that the problem was that nobody was willing to teach in these “backward areas.” Close to 35 per cent of the lecturer posts are vacant, many of which are in towns and villages, particularly in North Karnataka.

Taking stock of the situation mid-way through the last academic year, the department allowed colleges to appoint guest lecturers against the vacancies. “When we cannot get good teachers to come and live in these places, how will we find qualified guest lecturers?” asks the principal of a PU college in Bagalkot.

Other reasons include lack of awareness about education, poverty and students making wrong choices when it comes to selecting subjects after SSLC. “All this is secondary, though they all contribute to the problem. When I know that there aren’t enough teachers in school, and that most students in these schools are failing, why will I send my child to school,” the principal asks.
Optimism

The department is hopeful that the results will look up next year. Following the abysmal performance in 2007, the PU department conducted an assessment report. A committee studied various question papers and results of the past two years and found a great disparity in standards and timetables, and too many factual mistakes in the question papers. This led to a set of reforms in the I PU level. For the first time this year, students and teachers were forced to sit up and take I PU seriously because a centralised exam paper was set, and the exams were held with a common timetable in place. Further, the official said that several training camps were held to motivate and equip teachers with skills that would help them perform better.

In Bidar, the result has nearly doubled from 16.57 to 34.94 per cent in 2009. The main issue in this region is teacher shortage in colleges and poor infrastructure. R. H. Waghmare, president of Bidar District Pre-University Colleges Principals’ Association, feels that in most colleges there is a shortage of teachers in two to three subjects, particularly in the newly-opened ones.

The commissioner, Mr. Waghmare claims, has agreed to address the issue. In September 2008, principals were given authority to appoint guest lecturers as against full-time lecturers, but only retired lecturers were available. Guest lecturers may not bring the same amount of energy and sincerity as their full-time counterparts.

On the infrastructure side, many composite colleges run in shifts with high schools. This rules out the possibility of conducting special classes or helping students after college hours. Mr. Waghmare also blames parents, who do not encourage students and hold them back. “That attitude must change.”

In Haveri and Gadag too there has been a substantial increase in pass percentage — 43.2 and 35.14 per cent respectively, though they have slipped farther down on the performance list. “The teachers’ shortage should have been addressed at the beginning of the academic year,” opine deputy directors of PU Education of Haveri and Gadag, A.H. Mattur and B.S. Goudar respectively.

Last year, temporary appointments of guest teachers came into effect towards the fag end of the course. So, teachers were not able to complete the curriculum. But does that mean that students had no classes taken for them during the first three quarters?

A teacher, said that “temporary arrangements” were made. This means teachers were deputed to colleges where there was shortage. “This only ended up affected teaching in two colleges instead of one, thereby making things worse.” Currently, around 130 teacher posts lie vacant in Haveri, and 106 in Gadag.

Officials are hopeful that next time around colleges will either get new faculty, or be able to attract good guest lecturers Aided and unaided colleges in both areas also fared badly, pointing to shortfalls on the part of private managements too.

Bijapur, which finished 28th in this race, saw a marginal improvement. Parents allege that colleges lackn basic infrastructure and have no teachers. As many as 28 colleges in Bijapur are functioning in rented buildings which don’t have proper facilities. Officials claim steps have been taken to construct new buildings, but say that changes will take time.

Around 130 lecturer posts in Bellary’s PU colleges are vacant. However, the pass percentage has increased by 13 per cent, a positive trend. M.K. Honnakatti, DDPU, said a lot of attention had been paid to the quality of teaching

The hindu

Its a dismal scenario

More Education news