The Karnataka government has ordered the upgrade of 16 government high schools into Pre-University colleges, effective for the 2026-27 academic year. The official notification says admissions and classes for the new PU colleges will begin in the 2026-27 session.
Karnataka upgrades 16 high schools to PU colleges: courses and immediate student impact
Each of the 16 upgraded colleges will offer First Language Kannada and Second Language English. For commerce, the colleges will run the EBACS combination — Economics, Business Studies, Accountancy and Computer Science.
The move is designed to give local students easier access to higher secondary education in their districts. The state says the upgrades will strengthen the rural education network and reduce the need for students to travel far for PU-level courses.
Karnataka upgrades 16 high schools to PU colleges: staffing, posts and deployment
The state has asked District Deputy Directors (DDPUs) to identify and deploy lecturers with lighter workloads from existing institutions to staff the new colleges. This temporary internal deployment is intended to ensure classes start on time while permanent staffing is arranged.
Separately, the government has sanctioned around 50 lecturer posts for the School Education and Literacy Department for 2025-26 . The notification references these posts as part of the department's 110th post allocation for the year. Exact deployment timelines and recruitment details have not been provided in the order.
Admission timing, policy goals and support measures
Admissions and classes will begin from the 2026-27 session, the notification states. Standard PU eligibility rules will apply for student intake; the order does not list seat matrices, fee structures, reservation details or intake capacity per college.
The notification also highlights non-academic support. The state plans to integrate startup-building support and professional mentoring into the broader educational framework for these colleges, aiming to make students more job- and startup-ready.
The order follows an earlier round of conversions where 23 government high schools were upgraded to PU colleges. Together, the two rounds form part of a broader push to expand higher secondary infrastructure in rural parts of the state.
The notification leaves several operational details open: names and locations of the 16 schools, exact seat counts, fee or concession rules, and the timeline for filling sanctioned posts. District education offices will handle local implementation and admissions once detailed guidelines arrive from the School Education and Literacy Department.