Maiden online ComedK for PG seats goes off without a hitch

95 per cent of 22,141 registered candidates take test

The first-ever online exam conducted by the Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka (ComedK) for postgraduate medical and dental courses went off without a hitch, although a number of candidates complained of being allotted test centres far away.

Dr Aaishwari Siram Durgae, who wrote her exam in BNM Institute of Technology, Banashankari, said, “I am from Bidar and the nearest centre for me would have been  Kalaburagi and even Hyderabad. However, I was allotted the last of my preferred test centres. A number of my friends too faced the same problem.”

Speaking about the exam, she said: “The exam was fine. There were no technical glitches at all and there were good facilities at my centre. But I was not very much satisfied with regard to the quality of the exam.”

“It might differ from one person to another. I felt that there were more factual questions that those that were application-based. The pattern was also different from the previous years,” said Durgae.

The exam had a total of 180 questions of one mark each, all of which were multiple choice questions.

Dr Neeraj Chopra, another aspirant who wrote the exam in Mysuru, said that the online exam was “smooth” and well organised.

While Neeraj was allotted the exam centre of his choice, it was not the same for some of his acquaintances.

“There are at least three people I know who wrote their exam in Ghaziabad and Kanpur although they wanted it in Delhi. Down South too there were a few instances of the same,” he said.  

ComedK has tied up with the Educational Rating and Assessment (ERA) Foundation for conducting the test online, which was held across 72 cities in 138 centres.

Of the 22,141 candidates who registered for the test, 95 per cent attended, according to S Kumar, General Secretary, ComedK.

When asked about the issue with the allotment of test centres, he replied, “When the number of candidates are exhausted in one city, we give them their next preference. In any case, they are allotted using a randomized process.”