The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) Wednesday announced that a total of 7,26,195 students have registered for the second pre-university (PU) examination which is scheduled to begin from Thursday (March 9) and will go on till March 29. State School Education and Literacy Minister B C Nagesh, while addressing a press conference, said the results of the examination will be announced tentatively in the first week of May. He added that the number of girls who registered for the exam is higher than that of the boys. According to the school education department, out of the total 6,29,760 regular students who registered for the examination, 3,25,045 students are girls and 3,04,715 students are boys. Over 1.9 lakh students have registered for arts, 2.1 lakh students for commerce and 2.2 lakh students for science. The examination will be conducted between 10:15 am and 1:30 pm. The students appearing for the second PU examination this year were all promoted in 2021 (when they were in Class 10 or SSLC) due to the pandemic. The pass percentage then was 100 per cent. The state government had conducted an objective-based examination during the pandemic and as a result, the number of candidates who registered for the second PU examination in 2023 increased compared to last year. This year, over 6.3 lakh candidates have registered for the examination compared to over 6 lakh in 2021-22. The examination is set to take place in 1,109 examination centres across the state. Bengaluru has the highest number of examination centres (156) and Ramanagara has the least number of examination centres (13). Nagesh also said, “Elaborate security measures have been made to curtail malpractices in the examination centres. CCTV cameras have been installed which will monitor students right from entering the examination hall to exiting the hall. The question papers will be opened only after collecting signatures from three students.” A total of 1,109 assistant chief superintendents, 64 district flying squad, 525 taluk flying squad and 2,373 special flying squad officials will be deployed for the examination. The minister also promised action against those spreading rumours on social media against the question papers and said that any form of digital gadgets like smart phones and smart watches among others are strictly prohibited in the exam centre. He also said that the areas falling under 200 metre radius of the examination centres will be marked as prohibited areas for safety and security purposes. Meanwhile, transport corporations — Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation and Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation — said they will allow students to travel for free in their buses from their residences to the exam centre and back on the exam days.
