Bengaluru, May 20 (IANS) Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday chaired a meeting at his official residence to review matters related to the School Education and Literacy Department and directed officials to expedite the implementation of Karnataka Public Schools (KPS) across the state.

During the meeting, the Chief Minister announced that the Karnataka Public School project would be formally launched in Shivamogga on June 1.

Officials informed that each KPS school would accommodate around 1,200 students and provide education from LKG to PU (class 11 and 12) in both Kannada and English medium under one campus.

Siddaramaiah directed officials to ensure that all 800 proposed schools are fully ready within the next two years.

The Chief Minister also instructed authorities to begin the tender process at the earliest for the establishment of 800 Karnataka Public Schools during the current academic year.

He further directed officials to examine the feasibility of providing school bus facilities for KPS students.

Siddaramaiah also instructed the department to immediately submit a proposal to the Finance Department for the recruitment of 15,000 teachers.

Reviewing academic performance, the Chief Minister noted a major improvement in SSLC (Class 10) and PU examination results this year. The SSLC pass percentage rose to 94.10 per cent, an increase of 14.06 per cent compared to last year, while the II PUC (Class 12) pass percentage reached 86.48 per cent, marking a rise of 13.03 percent from 2025.

The number of schools achieving 100 per cent results in SSLC examinations increased significantly to 2,393 this year, compared to 766 schools last year.

The government also highlighted notable improvement in the performance of SC, ST and backward class students in SSLC (Class 10) examinations. Results among SC and ST students improved by 18 per cent, while students from various backward class categories also registered considerable improvement.

The Chief Minister noted that no grace marks were awarded to students this year and clarified that there would be no third and final SSLC examination this year.

Officials informed the meeting that rural students outperformed their urban counterparts in both SSLC and II PUC examinations. The SSLC pass percentage in rural areas stood at 94.80 per cent compared to 93.20 percent in urban areas. Similarly, rural students recorded an 87.62 per cent pass rate in II PUC examinations, while urban areas registered 85.95 per cent.

The government also discussed a proposal to distribute free notebooks along with free textbooks to schoolchildren.

School Education and Literacy Minister Madhu Bangarappa informed the meeting that several measures had contributed to the improved results, including statewide meetings with parents and teachers following the Chief Minister’s directions, appointment of guest teachers, curriculum-based learning methods, state-level preparatory examinations, periodic teacher training and continuous monitoring.

He added that special training programmes were conducted in the Kalyana Karnataka region, which contributed significantly to improved academic performance in the region.

–IANS

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