Karnataka govt junks plan for online CET

The government has finally decided to permanently let go of its plan to hold online Common Entrance Test (CET) for professional courses from this academic year.

Apprehensive about the end result, the government dropped the idea of online CET, especially keeping in mind the infrastructure and logistics support required for it. It has also rejected a proposal by the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA), suggesting to go for online mode from the 2021 examination.

As per the estimation by KEA, the new method would have required about 25,000 computers to conduct the examination in each session.

The same was also discussed during the General Council meeting held on Wednesday, chaired by Higher and Medical Education minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan. Sources present at the meeting confirmed the government’s decision to retain the offline mode of exam.

Proven model

Ashwath Narayan said, “Holding exams in offline mode is a proven model and hence, we decided to continue with the same.” He clarified that the decision was taken considering the fact that several competitive examinations for admission to professional courses, including NEET and Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), are being brought back to offline mode.