Karnataka: Admission to all science-related courses will be through Common Entrance Test

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government is coming up with the Common Entrance Test (CET) for admission to all science-related courses, including BSc programmes. Higher education minister, CN Ashwath Narayan said that they were mooting the CET for students for Science courses this year.

In addition to this, ranks for admission to engineering courses will be awarded on the basis of the marks secures in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics (PCM) subjects of the CET only.

He highlighted that the earlier system of considering the PCM marks secured in the annual exams and CET in equal proportions will not applicable for this year.

Minimum eligibility marks if 45% (40% for SC/ST/OBC) in the PCM subjects of II PUC examination which was a criterion for writing the CET exam will not be applicable for this year.

In the current academic year, only the CET ranking will be taken into consideration for professional courses including agricultural science, pharmacy, veterinary, engineering, medical courses.

Ashwath Narayan said, “The government has written to all authorities, including AICTE, NTA and Agriculture Council seeking permission to change the eligibility criteria for admission to professional courses. This is after S Suresh Kumar, minister for primary and secondary, had requested not to use the II PU marks for calculating CET ranks as the Board exam was cancelled.”

He also said that they were mooting a minimum eligibility mark in the CET on the line of NEET. The common entrance test will be conducted on August 28 and 29.

This year, the number of students who pass out may rise by 30%, which will result in 2 lakh more students seeking admission for degree courses. Measures will be taken accordingly to accommodate the increased number rod students in government and private colleges.