The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Minority colleges gear up for admission test

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Friday, Apr 27, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Minority colleges gear up for admission test

Rasheed Kappan

5,700 candidates have already applied for the test

BANGALORE: Engineering and medical seat aspirants had hoped they would have to write just one common entrance test, this year. But they had no such luck, and are now forced to appear for three tests: the Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka (COMEDK) test on May 6, the Government's Common Entrance Test (CET) on May 9, and the entrance test of religious and linguistic minority colleges on May 13.

With the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) proposal going nowhere, the private college managements had opted out of the idea of a single test.

The Karnataka Religious and Linguistic Minority Professional Colleges' Association (KRLMPCA) were not prepared to go with either the CET or COMEDK.

So, now the association is ready with its "KRLMPCA CET 2007" for which 5,700 candidates have applied so far. The number could touch about 6,000 at the close of the deadline, KRLMPCA secretary Shafi Ahmed told The Hindu.

The minority colleges contended that they had conducted three undergraduate and three postgraduate entrance tests since 2004, and that experience was adequate to hold another test.

Although the KRLMPCA's PG entrance test ran into rough weather during its counselling process, the association does not foresee any such problems in the forthcoming test for UG courses.

The "KRLMPCA CET 2007" will be held at five examination centres across the State — Bangalore, Mangalore, Gulbarga, Raichur and New Delhi.

On the test day, May 13, the physics examination will be from 9.30 a.m. to 10.40 a.m. and chemistry from 11.10 a.m. to 12.20 p.m. The biology test is scheduled between 1 p.m. and 2.10 p.m., while the mathematics test will be from 2.30 p.m. to 3.40 p.m.

The answer keys will be published on the association website (www.kmca.info) by evening on the test day. Candidates could post challenges if any from May 13 to May 15, before the results are declared on May 15.

Centralised counselling for religious minority institutions will be held in Gulbarga and the seat selection for linguistic minority colleges in Bangalore.

Seven medical, nine dental and 12 engineering colleges are attached to the KRLMPCA.

A total of 525 MBBS seats are available for selection under the management quota in the medical colleges that include the Mangalore-based A.J. Institute of Medical Sciences; Al-Ameen Medical College, Bijapur; Khaja Banda Nawaz Institute of Medical Sciences, Gulbarga; M.V.J. Medical College, Bangalore; Navodaya Medical College, Raichur; Rajarajeswari Medical College, Bangalore and Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences, Bangalore.

A total of 405 BDS seats are available in the nine dental colleges. The highest intake of 75 seats is in the Mangalore-based A.J. Institute of Dental Sciences and the Bangalore-based Oxford Dental College. Under the agreement worked out with the State Government, minority college managements secured 75 per cent of the total intake in medical and dental colleges, and 60 per cent of the seats in engineering colleges.

Of the management quota MBBS seats, 55 per cent had a fee structure of Rs. 3.25 lakh per annum. Fifteen per cent seats were reserved for NRIs who paid in dollars and five per cent seats were under "institutional preference."

For the 55 per cent management quota BDS seats, the fee was Rs. 2.30 lakh per annum. Engineering seats had a fee of Rs. 1.25 lakh.

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