Amidst drama and tension, students took part in the Common Entrance Test (CET) 2020 at centres across the State on Thursday. Out of the 1.94 lakh students who registered, 1.47 lakh attempted biology and 1.73 lakh wrote the maths paper. Physics and chemistry will be held on Friday.
The CET is the gateway to seats in engineering and agriculture colleges, among others. Those who had registered for CET were on tenterhooks till Wednesday evening when the Karnataka High Court gave the go-ahead for conducting the exams.
In Bengaluru, students and authorities reported to test centres wearing masks and armed with hand sanitisers, while anxious parents waited outside. “I do not know why we had to put up with this last-minute tension. They are conducting the exam during the pandemic and, on top of that, there are these uncertainties,” said one anxious parent.
Some students wore face shields and gloves as an added precautionary measure. “When I wrote the final second PU paper, we took similar precautions, but the number of cases were not so high then. Now, there are more than 50,000 COVID-19 cases in Bengaluru alone. I am very worried,” said a student.
Parents, too, were worried. “When my daughter wrote her only pending second PU English paper in the third week of June, there were not more than 500 active cases in the city. Now, the cases have sky-rocketed,” said one parent, as he waited outside a centre at K.R. Puram.
For the most part, students had mixed reactions to writing CET at a time when the pandemic showed no sign of easing in Bengaluru, but all wanted to “get it over with”.
“Once the exam is over, I will be able to relax. We have been at home since March, but I could not stop thinking about the examination and the uncertainty. It was not a good experience,” said a student, echoing the views of many of her peers.
Another student told The Hindu: “COVID-19 is here to stay, and it is better to just get done with the CET.”
Anxiety levels were high as students have to attempt four core papers over two days. “There’s pandemic-related pressure over and above the normal exam pressure,” said another student.