Private varsities to hold their entrance tests

Professional seat aspirants will not be writing only the Common Entrance Test (CET) and the Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka (COMED-K) in 2014. With as many as four institutions gaining private university status, at least two of them are gearing up to administer their national entrance tests.

D. Jawahar, CEO of PES Institutions, confirmed that admissions to PES Institute of Technology (PESIT) would be done through the national entrance test conducted by the institute. “We are now a private university and everything that will be done next year will be new. The Private University Act applies to us. PESIT, for the engineering courses, will not use either the CET or COMED-K. The national entrance test will determine even for the 40 per cent seats that the private varsities are mandated to give to State students,” he added.

Maintaining that the reservation policy will also be followed, he said, “The Supreme Court says 50 per cent of the seats will go for reservation, 35 per cent for open merit, and 15 per cent as NRI quota. Three principles will be followed for allocation of seats: transparency, merit and social justice.”

Students wishing to get a seat in Reva University will also be writing a separate test. M. Dhananjaya, Dean, Student Affairs, Reva University, said a national-level entrance test will be conducted for four engineering courses: electrical, computer science, mechanical and civil. “We are planning to conduct the test soon after the COMED-K to facilitate those who write that test to attend the Reva entrance test,” he added.

Fee structure

As for the fee, he said a retired High Court judge, the Principal Secretary of Higher Education, the Vice-Chancellor of Reva University, and a management representative will ‘consider all aspects before arriving at a fee structure’.

Asked if there were ‘too many’ entrance tests for students to attempt next year, Minister of State for Medical Education Sharan Prakash Patil said according to the Karnataka Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Determination of Fee) Act 2006, there could be only two tests — the Common Entrance Test and the COMED-K.