In an announcement that has caught second year pre-university students by surprise, the State government on Tuesday said it was considering making the Common Entrance Test (CET) mandatory for candidates hoping to secure admissions to B.Sc courses. Students have criticised the government for this ‘last-minute’ announcement, which they termed unfair, as they have not prepared for CET this academic year.
College managements, too, will be left in the lurch as a majority had completed or are in the process of completing admissions to B.Sc. courses. Deputy Chief Minister and Higher Education Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan acknowledged that CET may not be applicable to all science-based programmes. Entry into some courses may need certain relaxations, which will be decided depending on the nature of the course, he said.
A source in the Higher Education Department said this idea was mooted as II PU examinations have been cancelled. “More students will pass out this academic year. We are planning to use CET marks as a filter as the demand may be more than availability of seats,” the official said.
However, students remain unconvinced. Many pointed out that they had decided not to take up engineering or medicine as they did not want to sit for competitive entrance tests. Aishwarya S., who has secured a seat in a B.Sc. programme at a top women’s college in the city, said: “I chose to opt out of the rat race for engineering and medical streams and decided to pursue pure sciences. The government is making announcements based on whims and fancies and cannot expect us to follow it instantly,” she said.
A public relations officer of a degree college in Bengaluru said they were midway through the admission process. “For most of our courses, we have admitted students based on their performance in the class 10 board examination and class 11 scores. A majority of the candidates who have opted for B.Sc. courses are not interested in pursuing engineering or medicine, and have not prepared for competitive examinations. Asking them to write the CET at this point in time is extremely unfair,” he said.
He added that students tend to opt for B.Sc. courses as there is no entrance test involved. Introducing one so late in the year may deter them from pursuing academics and put them out of the ambit of higher education.
Abraham V.M., Vice-Chancellor of Christ (Deemed to be University), said: “We follow our own admission process and entrance test and are in the process of completing our admissions by the end of June,” he said.