The Common Entrance Test (CET) concluded on Friday much to the relief of students hoping to get a college seat for professional courses in engineering, agriculture and other streams.
Of the 1,94,419 students who registered for CET this year, around 1,75,428 (90.23%) attempted the physics paper and around 1,75,337 (90.19%) sat for the chemistry paper on Friday. Last year, 92.27% had attempted physics and 90.88% had written the chemistry paper. Sixty-three students who had tested positive for COVID-19 attempted both papers across the State.
Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Higher Education C.N. Ashwath Narayan said the examination was conducted smoothly with the cooperation of various departments. “By conducting the exam without any untoward incident, we have created a model,” he said, adding that the counselling would be held online.
The CET helpline, which was set up to address grievances of students, received 200 calls on Thursday, the first day of exam. “All queries were sorted, and 10 to 15 callers had asked for change in exam centres, which was processed immediately,” he said.
Many students, while happy to have completed CET, are now focusing on NEET and JEE Main entrance tests.
A few, however, have decided to give them a miss. Sumanth K. Gowda said that based on his CET rankings, he would decide either to do B.Sc in Agriculture or law. “I am relieved after CET. I am not attempting NEET or JEE,” he said.
Another student, who did not want to be named, said she had to resume her preparations for JEE Main. “I will have to prepare hard for JEE. With CET complete, I can concentrate on JEE Main, which is scheduled for the first week of September,” the student said.
Kannada language exam today
The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) will conduct Kannada language exam for Horanadu and Gadinadu students on Saturday. The exam will be conducted in six exam centres in Bidar, Vijayapura, Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Ballari, and Belagavi. 1,881 students have registered to write the exam.
State aims to be among first to implement NEP
Primary and Secondary Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar said on Friday that Karnataka will be one of the first States to systematically implement the new National Education Policy (NEP).
The State government plans to introduce the policy in a phased manner after taking all stakeholders into confidence “The Karnataka Education Policy will be finalised in August based on NEP,” Mr. Kumar said at a press conference.
On July 30, Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Higher Education C.N. Ashwath Narayan had announced the formation of a task force under the chairmanship of S.V. Ranganath, former Chief Secretary and vice-chairman of Karnataka State Higher Education Council. “We have scheduled a presentation for the State government regarding NEP on August 16. We will submit a recommendation to the government on its implementation on August 20,” he had said.