dharwad the dip in pass percentage in ii puc in all districts particularly in the north karnataka region has added to the worry of parents and educationists uttara kannada district secured the fourth place registering a pass percentage of 7644 against 8119 last year bagalkot district which is in the 10th place has a pass percentage of 6591 as against 7040 last year dharwad was 13th last year with 6725 but this year it has slipped to the 15th spot with 6286 similarly haveri 6054 from 7158 gadag 4928 from 5102 vijayapura 6039 from 6065 and belagavi 6205 from 6487 have shown a downward trend the situation in the hyderabadkarnatak region is no different as kalaburagi ballari bidar raichur koppal and yadgiri recorded a lower pass percentage educationists attribute the decline mainly to the confusion due to the leakage of question papers reexamination change in syllabus in the arts and commerce streams syllabus upgrade of science stream to make it on par with cbse lack of infrastructure transportation frequent power failure during preexamination days and delays in the supply of textbooks and appointment of lecturersthe districts of north karnataka particularly the rural areas do not have the facilities enjoyed by those in bengaluru or mangaluru most of the colleges in north karnataka districts are run by private managements with grant from the government the private managements taking aid from the government are bound by too many restrictions imposed by the government which often results in financial crunch the inordinate delay in permitting recruitment of teachers to vacant posts hampers the academic activity in colleges the government should consider pu education as a priority sector and exempt it from the austerity measures the posts of lecturers which fall vacant due to superannuation death resignation and other reasons should be filled immediately said educationist dr anand kabbur