What does it take for a college to achieve a 100 per cent pass result? Focused students is not the answer for some pre-university colleges, lesser students are. This year, 80 pre-university colleges across the state, including 15 government-run colleges have achieved the rare tag of having all their students clear the II PU exam.
However, a closer look at the data throws up a completely different picture. Several colleges, including 5 government-run colleges have between 4 and 10 students enrolled.
Data made public by the PU Department shows that 18 of the 80 colleges have less than 10 students each. Only 9 colleges out of the 80 have more than 100 students. The scenario is similar when it comes to colleges with 0 per cent results (no student cleared the exam). Of the 98 colleges in this list, 48 have single digit student numbers.
“If you have such low number of students, getting a 100 per cent pass result is not a great achievement. Being a government college, they must maintain a minimum number of students,” said the representative of a private unaided college which also secured 100 per cent pass results with a student strength of more than 500.
Two of the private unaided colleges to figure in the list, the Al- Ameen Evening PU college in Bengaluru and the National Independent PU college, Kakhandaki, Vijayapura have just 1 student each. The Government PU college in Talagwadi at Malavalli in Mandya has just 2 students and the Government Independent PU college in Bhuvanahally, Hassan has only 4 students. What is even more shocking is that the department has a strict policy on colleges having at least 50 students to be operational. At least 5 government colleges seem to have ignored this rule. While the college officials might be talking about their results as a matter of pride, they have come in for some scathing criticism from other educational institutions.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, officials said that they would issue notices to the private and aided colleges for not having maintained the required number of students. However, they said that government colleges were unlikely to face action as the colleges could not deny admissions or access to examinations, even if there was only one student. Just three years back, 37 pre-university colleges across the state could boast of all their students clearing the II Pre-University exams. This figure rose to 68 last year and 80 in 2018-19. Out of the 80, there are 15 government colleges, an aided college, 63 private unaided colleges and a bifurcated PU college.
