UDUPI: Higher Education Minister Dr MC Sudhakar on Saturday said the decision of the Primary and Secondary Education department to lower the pass percentage for SSLC and PUC needs to be discussed in detail.
Sudhakar told reporters that he has no clarity as to why Primary and Secondary Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa chose to reduce the pass marks for SSLC from 35 to 33 and for PUC from 35 to 30.
“Even I feel that a decision to lower the pass marks should have been taken after a more careful study. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also has directed Bangarappa that a discussion should be held,” he said.
He said that many MLAs are requesting colleges in rural areas, but the department has to first recruit faculty and make other arrangements before starting a college. The government is focussing on strengthening existing colleges and introducing job-oriented courses. Nearly 2,000 students have joined job-oriented courses in the past two years, he added. “We introduced four degree programmes in B.Com -- Logistics, Retail, e-commerce and Banking and Finance.
We have signed an MoU with Chroma and Reliance. Students will get apprenticeship opportunities during the fifth or sixth semester of their course,” he added. On Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy and his RS MP-wife Sudha Murty declining to participate in the Socio-Economic and Educational Survey, he said, “We have respect for the founders of Infosys, which brought laurels to the entire nation in the field of information technology. All sections of society, by default, declare their caste.
I would like to ask the Murthys whether they would take the same stand when the Union government takes up the caste survey next year. Younger generation, have been following you when it comes to their future. You should think before making such decisions.”ww