Bengaluru: The results of recently concluded second-year pre-university exams is all set to be announced on April 15, if there were no last minute changes, as per C.Shika, in-charge director of Pre-university Board.
This is for the first time that the II PUC results will be declared before the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET) is conducted. For many years, the Government of Karnataka has been permitting the Karnataka Examination Authority to conduct the Common Entrance test before the results of second-year pre-university are out.
Announcing of II PUC results before the CET this year is likely to expose the Karnataka Examination Authority’s wrong-doing of enrolling over 2,05,000 students who are ineligible to write the CET as they have not passed the qualifying exams.
The Education Secretariat notification ED 10 TEC 2006 dated 28.2.2006, states that a candidate should have passed II PUC or XII standard or equivalent examination preceding the entrance test, which means that, a candidate, even to apply to write the CET should have passed second pre-university exams with the required percentage of marks.
Since the government was forced to postpone the dates of the already scheduled Common entrance test after the announcement of dates for Lok Sabha elections, the CET was postponed for April 29, 30 and May 1. Having enrolled over 2,05,000 ineligible candidates to write the CET this year, and Pre-university education department has decided to declare the II PUC results, the officials now state, that after results it is likely that much lesser number of candidates may write CET than those enrolled.
Considering the II PUC results, an average of a little over 50% is the pass percentage in the last several years. The parents say that the officials have asked students to write the CET even if the students have failed after the II PU results are announced.
The parents question the intention of the government, which has collected the CET fees from over 2,05,000 students, enrolling them when they were ineligible, with the fee amount ranging from Rs.500 from boys to Rs.250 from girls and candidates from SC/ST.
We have to wait and see, whether the government will be refunding the CET fees to the candidates if they fail in II PU after results are announced. Till last year, the Karnataka CET and Diploma CET fee were Rs.650/- and for SC/ST candidates it was Rs.500. The total amount collected in 2018 for Karnataka CET was Rs.16,88,69,823, according to the information provided under RTI.
Many parents and luminaries in the education field are of the opinion that the government should consider only II PU or equivalent examinations, which the government has stated as qualifying exams for admissions to higher education and professional courses, instead of conducting CET illegally.
The High Court of Karnataka, in Writ Petition no.51937-38 of 2013,(EDN-EX) dated 3.4.2014 observed, that “If there are more number of seats and less number of aspirants, conducting an entrance test is not necessary and if such entrance test is conducted, such an exercise is meaningless.” After such an observation made in the high court order, the court gave relief to 1000 students who got admissions into Dental courses in 2012 without writing CET.
The Medical Council of India issued a notice to those 1000 students, through Rajiv Gandhi University and health science, that they will not be recognised and hence those students had approached the high court of Karnataka.
It is to be waited and seen, as to what drama will unfold, after the announcement of II PUC results from this year.
(The Author R Eswarraj is a senior photojournalist, formerly associated with a reputed national daily. He has been working as a freelance writer, covering education, legal and civic issues. He is based in Mangaluru and is the president of PUCL DK.)
