Admitting that a lapse on part of the officials had resulted in the confusion in the PU exam results, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Kimmane Ratnakar on Friday announced that the CET results would be postponed by eight days.
Addressing presspersons after a meeting with department officials, the Minister said CET results would be announced after the disbursal of applications filed by aggrieved students for revaluation and re-totalling of papers. “I have requested the Higher Education Minister and COMED-K authorities to postpone all processes related to CET and they have agreed,” he said.
Denying that there were discrepancies in the evaluation process, he said that efforts would be made to disburse all the applications for revaluation, re-totalling and photo-copying of the answer scripts within a week.
The Board has received as many as 2,825 applications for revaluation and 20,623 for photo-copying. The candidates can submit their requests till May 25, he said.
He also mentioned that those who have been marked absent erroneously need not apply for photocopies. They can submit a request through their colleges. "I have already instructed the colleges," said Mr. Ratnakar.
Officials’ failure
He maintained that failure on part of the PU board officials in offering an explanation to the aggrieved students and parents had led to the confusion. “I had told the PU Board Director Sushma Godbole to explain in writing. But she said she will convince the parents and students,” he said.
However, he said he could not initiate action against any official without an enquiry. “The Principal Secretary will conduct a detailed probe and action will be initiated against those found guilty,” he said.
Private website operator blamed
The Minister said a faux-pas on the part of a private website operator, in uploading the contents of the CD provided by the PU board, had resulted in the confusion. “We have filed a complaint with the Malleshwaram police against HT Media, Bengaluru for entering wrong codes of English and French subjects,” he said.
Appealing to parents and students not to panic, he assured them the department would ensure that each of the aggrieved candidates would get justice at any cost. The department’s helpline 080 23083900 could be used by parents and students to get their doubts cleared, if any, he said.
Reasons for withholding results
Explaining the various reasons because of which the results of several students had been withheld, he said this is because they had either entered wrong roll numbers or had appeared for a different optional subject. “Some students have failed although their overall marks are above the pass percentage. This is because they should have compulsorily scored a minimum of 21 marks in theory even if they had scored high marks in practicals,” he said.
Grace marks
He said grace marks had been given to only those who had attempted the wrong question. “Although there is a demand for the grace marks even from those who have not attempted the question, we cannot do that,” he said.
