14,000 apply for Kannada medium school entrance test

Mangaluru: Alva’s Kannada medium school in Moodbidri, managed by the Alva’s Education Foundation, has received about 13,900 applications as on March 1, to write the entrance test. Interestingly, available seats to this school for this academic year are anywhere between 200 to 300.
This is the first time that the school has received such a high number of applications for its entrance test, which is sent to candidates via post. Last year, the school received 11,362 applications, of which 10,764 candidates appeared for the entrance test. “This year, it is likely to cross 14,000, with the highest number of applications received for admission to class VI. The highest number of applications were received from Belagavi at 6,000, followed by Bagalkot district. There are less than 50 applications from undivided Dakshina Kannada,” said headmaster Srinidhi Yalachittaya. The entrance test is scheduled on Sunday.
Yalachittaya said that 600 students study from class VI to the SSLC level at the school, and that education is free. It is a three-phase admission process. Students seeking admission to grades VI and VII will have to clear a two-hour, 120-mark preliminary test, that is in OMR format.
Class VIII and IX aspirants will have to take a 150 marks exam of 2.5 hours. Those who qualify, will appear for a descriptive exam in the second phase, and the final phase is an interview round with the institution’s chairman M Mohan Alva. Last year, 310 candidates were admitted from grades VI to IX in the institution.
The applicants are from across the State. “We have received five applications from Kolhapur in Maharashtra, and are currently studying in residential schools like Morarji Desai, Navodaya, and Adarsha Vidyalaya. Before the pandemic, the exams were held in each district, and the total number of applications would cross 18,000. At present, entrance test is conducted at Alva’s campus in Moodbidri,” the headmaster said.
M Mohan Alva said admissions are purely based on the entrance test. “There are parents seeking admission for their children studying in English medium schools. There are some who are willing to pay hefty fees to secure admission, who are discouraged,” he said.
The high school section started with special permission in 2009, and class VI and VII were started in 2013. To date, the school has achieved 100% results in the SSLC examination, and last year, five students scored 625/625 in board examinations.