Karnataka - Bangalore   

CET off to a quiet start on the first day

Staff Reporter

Biology paper was a breeze, say relieved students `It was not bad. Almost all the questions expected came. And the coaching was not worth it'

CRAMMING FOR CET: Students appearing for the Common Entrance Test engaged in last-minute preparations in Bangalore on Tuesday. — Photo: K. Murali Kumar

BANGALORE: The admission process for professional college seats in the government quota formally began on Tuesday with thousands of students appearing for the biology and mathematics papers of the Common Entrance Test (CET) in 182 centres across the State.

In Bangalore, 23,442 students turned up for the mathematics test and 17,496 candidates took the biology test in 48 examination centres, CET Cell officials said. The physics and chemistry tests will be conducted on Wednesday while the aptitude test for architecture seat aspirants is slated for Friday.

No complaints

There were no complaints of any malpractice, and allegations of the question paper being leaked in Kolar were found to be false, the Special Officer of the CET Cell, D.N. Nayak, said.

At the St. Joseph's PU College centre, most candidates did not feel under pressure since biology is considered to be the easiest subject to tackle. They were anxious was about physics, chemistry and mathematics, the subjects directly related to engineering.

Many candidates from the lower and middle classes have given up dreams of a medical seat, thanks to the exorbitant fees fixed.

Most of the students claimed that the biology paper was easy and they had done well. The only complaint from a few was that the multiple choices for answers to the questions were not too wide of the mark, making it more challenging to choose the answer.

Madhuri, one of those who took the test, said, "It was not bad. Almost all the questions expected came. And the coaching was not worth it." Another student, Vidya reported, "The options were difficult but I did okay."

Harish said, "It was easy. I answered whatever I knew, but I am not interested in biology. I want to concentrate more on physics, chemistry and maths." His friend Bharat Kumar agreed and added, "Medicine is a star in the sky. We the middle class cannot reach it."

Another student Sridhar said it was relatively easy although he took no tutoring, and he was concentrating on mathematics as "there is no scope for people like me in medicine."

At the St. Ann's College centre, many students felt the mathematics paper was tough and the time allotted was not sufficient to complete the paper.

Asked about the State Government's decision to allow only Karnataka students to take the test, Sandeep, said: "It is definitely good for us but unfortunate for the people outside Karnataka. Anyway, they have the COMED-K."

Rana was, however, more practical: "It does not really matter. It is how well you do that counts at the end of the day, not whether or not you are competing with students from other States."

Accompanying his daughter to the Christ PU College centre, a parent, Shastri, welcomed the `Karnataka students only' rule. The confusion that surrounded the CET last year was "mental harassment" for the students. The new CET worked to the advantage of local students by reducing competition and hopefully simplifying the counselling process, he said.

`Less competition'

At the Jyoti Nivas College centre, an engineering hopeful, Rishi Shankar, felt the new rule has drastically reduced competition. His mother, however, saw the restriction on outstation candidates to be a disadvantage. Luckily for Rishi, he had completed seven years of education in the State, or else there would have been a problem, she said.

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