II PU exams kick off; 11 students disallowed

Times News Network Bengaluru: The II PU examinations kicked off across the state on Thursday, with over 6 lakh students appearing for Physics and Economics papers. Students said those who had prepared well found both papers easy. Geeta S, who accompanied her daughter for the Physics paper at Jyoti Nivas College in Koramangala, waited outside to ensure her daughter did not have trouble finding the exam hall. “The children are prepared but we’re more stressed. She has been studying very hard for the past two months,” said the Austin Town resident. Savitha Fernandez, whose son Rahul was writing the Physics exam, said she was happy with the support provided by his college, St. Joseph’s, to prepare for the exam. “There was a student counsellor to help deal with exam stress,” said the resident of Rajajinagar. Parents waited anxiously outside exam centres for their children. Their fears were unfounded as a majority of students walked out beaming. Satvik Birabar, a student of St. Josephs’ PU College, found the Physics paper “too simple”. “Most questions were from previous years’ exams. Much of it was expected,” he said, exiting the Mount Carmel College examination centre. “It was an easy paper, but would’ve been difficult for those who didn’t study,” Lakshman Kumar concurred with collegemate Satvik. The scene was similar at Christ College on Hosur Road. Meghna S of St Francis College found the Economics exam fine. “Thankfully, it was not lengthy and I was able to answer all questions within the stipulated time,” she said. However, some students found the numericals challenging in the Physics paper. Karthik Karanji, at the MCC exam centre, found numericals the only problematic part of an otherwise easy exam. “I’m happy with how I answered the paper, it was simple, straightforward.. The numericals were a bit difficult,” said the student of St. Josephs’ College. Other Josephites Arfan Khan and Trishul Ganapathy also faced the same situation. Students disallowed due to delay According to education department officials, 11students who were scheduled to write the exam at the Goodwill PU College for Girls, Coles Park, couldn’t appear for Physics exam as they came later than the 30-minute grace period. “The exam started at 10.15am and we allow students to enter up to 10.45am. Four students were allowed to enter after this grace period and even got the question papers but the centre in-charge decided it was too late. They were sent out of the hall,” C Shikha, director, Pre-University Education, said. However, students told a different story. According to Rabbani Hussain Shariff, a student of Shaheen’s Falcon PU College in JP Nagar, he and 16 others reached the college around 10.45 am and were first allowed to enter the college. He claimed one of them had a stomach upset. “We had informed our principal at the exam centre that we’d be late. When we reached, he requested them to allow us to enter. We went in, got the question paper and answersheet and the invigilator also signed our hall pass. Suddenly, there was a disagreement between the supervisors and they asked us to leave. Four of us were still able to write the paper but the rest had to sit in the corridor till the exam ended. We’re very worried and don’t know what to do but our principal has promised us that he’ll take care of the matter,” he said. High absence for Economics In all, 3,44,578 students across the state attempted the Economics exam, while 20,772 students remained absent and two were barred for malpractice. For the Physics, 2,15,740 students wrote it and 5,257 were absent. “The syllabus for commerce subjects, including Economics, was upgraded to the tougher NCERT syllabus in 2016-17. The new syllabus includes statistical economics, which is new to our students. Also, humanities and commerce students both take Economics and the former find it harder. II PU humanities and commerce streams can be taken privately and candidates take the exam at their own pace. Ironically, a random sampling showed the Economics paper was easy,” K R Manjunath, general secretary, Karnataka State PU College Principals Association. 10,004 centres. Students debarred Two students in Kalaburagi, caught cheating during the Economics exam, were not allowed to write it. They were found with notes and study material on them. This was the only such incident in the state. They were at the Karajgi centre in Afzalpur taluk. (Inputs by Aditi Warnoolkar and Nimeshika Jayachandran) Aditi Warnoolkar and Nimeshika Jayachandran are students of NSoJ and are now interns with Times of India, Bangalore