Although second year Pre-University students will be left with just 20 days to prepare for the Common Entrance Test (CET) after the chemistry re-examination on April 12, Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education Kimmane Ratnakar has said that the Department of Primary and Secondary Education does not plan to ask the Karnataka Examinations Authority to re-schedule the entrance exam (it is scheduled for May 4 and 5).
After chairing a high-level meeting with senior officials of the department on Saturday, Mr. Ratnakar told presspersons, “After the chemistry re-exam, the students will have around 20 days to prepare for the CET. This is sufficient time to prepare for the exam and we have no plans of requesting the KEA to postpone the exam,” he said.
The students have been jittery since the chemistry question paper leaked — first on March 21 (the exam was subsequently cancelled) and for the second time on March 31 (before the re-examination was about to begin).
Nischal Gangadhar Simha, a student, said that students need at least a month to prepare for the CET. “For the past few months, we have only been concentrating on our Pre-University portions and have not focused on our preparation for the CET. For many students like me who depend on government quota seats, scoring well in the CET is extremely crucial. We hope that the government postpones the test in the interest of students,” he said.
However, another section of students do not want any delay as they do not want to extend their study schedule. Manaswini Vijay Arenad, one such student, said, “If we use this time effectively, we can prepare well. Moreover, we have already made plans after the exam season,” she said.
Forthcoming entrance exams
JEE Offline: April 3
JEE Online: April 9 and 10
AIPMT: May 1
CET: May 4 and 5
COMEDK UGET: May 8
