Bengaluru: A decision taken by the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) to re-launch the Common Entrance Test (CET) rural coaching programme in partnership with a private firm in the absence of Dr Rajneesh Goel, Principal Secretary, Higher Education Department, has led to a new controversy.
Questions are being raised over how a project involving Rs 70 crore has been finalised without calling for tenders, and as to why Doordarshan Kannada channel, Chandana, has been dropped from telecasting the CET coaching programme, which was cost-effective and student-friendly.
KEA launched the programme in 2010 in association with a private company at a cost of '10 crore when Mr Aravind Limbavali was the higher education minister. The next year when Ms Rashmi V. became the Executive Director, she cancelled the programme observing that KEA had spent too much money on it.
To ensure that students from rural areas did not miss the CET bus, she started the CET coaching programme with the help of Doordarshan and it became popular among students.
Highly placed sources in the department said that rural the coaching programme, though involves Rs 70 crore, is being re-launched without calling for tenders. Interestingly, the project has been finalised when Dr Rajneesh Goel is on a long leave.
According to the new proposal, the private company is planning to launch 500 coaching centres in rural areas in the state.
“Classes will be conducted through DSERT studio facility and there won’t be any interactive sessions between resource people and the students. Instead of giving huge amounts of money to a private company, KEA should have continued with DD Chandana,” an officer said.
Sources said that the file related to the project was taken up for consideration on Saturday.
“Mr. Goel is on leave. Though no agreement has been signed, companies have been lobbying for it. In 2010, the coaching programme had run into several problems, creating a lot of confusion among students. It is not fair to spend CET fee money paid by the students on such a project,” he said.
