CET held amid NEET confusion; exams held at 391 centres across Karnataka

Bengaluru: Most students attending the Common Entrance Test (CET) for admissions to various professional courses in government colleges and government quota seats in private professional colleges that started on Wednesday were a confused lot.

For most of them the controversy surrounding the II PUC final examination Chemistry question paper leak was still fresh in their minds and they were also confused about preparing again for the NEET examination, scheduled on July 24. The parents of these students were equally stressed and anxious.

At every CET examination centre across the city, most students were accompanied by their parents. “My daughter got nervous due to the chaos surrounding the examination. She has always wanted an MBBS degree, so I accompanied her to the examination centre,” said Nagamani, a government employee whose daughter appeared for the CET examination in a Malleswaram government college examination centre.

According to officials, the examinations were held at 391 centres across the state, with restrictions like no wristwatches, leading to a lot of confusion in a few centres, as there were no arrangements to keep them in safe custody.

Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) executive director D.S. Ramesh told Deccan Chronicle that no complaints were made either by parents nor students over any examination-related issue on Wednesday. “The examination hall rules and the question paper was completely error-free,” he explained.

No options for Bio questions, Maths goes smooth
Students who appeared for the CET examination on Wednesday were relieved as both Mathematics and Biology question papers were easy. However, the Biology students who got the B2 version question paper found that options given for two questions were not appropriate.

According to Prof. Hanumanthacharya Honnidibb, Biology HOD at BASE, “In Biology Version – B2 none of the options given were appropriate for questions No. 52 and 55. Otherwise the paper was very easy,” he said.

“It is the only problem we faced in the examination. In total both the question papers were easy,” said Sandhya M, a student who appeared at Malleswaram Govt College centre.

According to the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) officials, out of the registered 1,78,377 students, 75.48 per cent attended the Biology examination while attendance percentage for Mathematics was 93.72 per cent.

Dr Sridhar G of Deeksha college said the Mathematics was simple. “The paper was easy and the questions were mostly straight forward. Student who have prepared well can score full marks. There were no changes in the question paper pattern, compared to last year. An average score would be around 30-35 marks,” he said.

“The paper was easy. Most of the questions came from the manuals provided by the college and NCERT material. I had solved all the questions from the manuals during our classes and also referred to other materials for my preparation. I felt the questions, particularly from Vectors, were tricky. I was able to attempt all 60 questions and I’m expecting to score around 40 to 44 marks,” said Madhu H.P., a student of Deeksha