Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada district has readied 59 examination centres for final II PU examinations beginning Feb 28, adding five more than last year to accommodate the steady rise in candidates.Officials from pre-university education department said the increase — from 54 centres in 2025 to 59 this year — was driven by the prescribed cap on seating capacity. As per norms, an examination centre cannot generally seat more than 500 students, prompting the administration to identify additional venues that meet the criteria.Jayanand Suvarna, principal of Government PU College, Shakti Nagar, and president of Dakshina Kannada Pre-University Colleges Principals’ Association, said the new centres in Mangaluru are at Jeppinamogaru, Bondel, and Yeyyadi. The other two new centres are in Moodbidri and Belthangady.A department official said selecting centres for the II PU examinations remained challenging, alleging that some colleges tried to avoid being designated as centres by citing inadequate infrastructure. The official noted that the same institutions conducted internal midterm and preparatory examinations without difficulty, and suggested that reluctance increased when external candidates were allotted to them.Rajeshwari HH, deputy director of the Dakshina Kannada pre-university education department, said the department allowed 1,000 candidates to write the exam in four or five major colleges, deviating from the usual 500 limit as the required infrastructure was available. In other centres, the permitted strength remained at 500 or, in some cases, 750.Mangaluru accounted for the largest share of centres in the district with 21, followed by Belthangady with eight. Bantwal and Moodubidire had six centres each, while Puttur and Kadaba had five each. Ullal had four centres, and Sullia and Mulki had two each. Overall, the district’s 59 centres comprised 15 govt colleges, 22 aided colleges, and 22 unaided colleges. Stream—Number of StudentsArts—3,724Commerce—15,504Science—18,559Total Candidates—37,337Source: Pre-university education department
