It all started when students who took Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET) again this year started protesting in front of the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), which conducts the KCET, when the results were announced on July 29.
Their II Pre-University (PU) marks were not considered which sparked outrage. And today, the students' petitions will be heard by the Karnataka High Court. We unpack the issue for you here:
What happened?
These are students who cleared their Pre-University II year in 2021 and took the KCET exam for a second time this year. These students have been told that their PU II scores will not be considered in the KCET rank for which 50% weightage is given to the KCET marks and 50% is reserved for the PU II scores.
The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), which conducts the KCET, has taken a stand that the PU II marks for these students will not be included in their KCET rank, since they did not write the Board exam for PU II and their merit for clearing PU II was decided based on an average of their PU I and SSLC (Class X) scores.
What is being challenged in the court today?
In 2021, the Government of Karnataka issued an order stating that PU II marks will not be considered for any student in the calculation of the KCET rank that year, due to the pandemic. Students approached various authorities, including the KEA, the Ministry of Education and even the Chief Minister's Office, to confirm that PU II marks will be considered for the KCET rank.
The students were told that the weightage of 50-50 will be reinstated this year, informed advocate Rajendra B Kulkarni. He is representing a group of 16 students in one of the petitions filed in the matter in the Karnataka High Court.
These petitions challenge the note issued by the KEA on July 30, 2022, on the day the KCET results were announced this year, and say that, "As per Government Order no ED147TEC2020 dated 01/09/2021, the qualifying marks of 2021 students was not considered for CET ranking for the Academic Year 2021 and is not considered for 2022-23 as well."
What do students stand to lose?
A point to note is that usually there are 1,500 students who take the exam again, but this year, a whopping 25,000 students took the exams again.
Students say that the ranks they have received now will not even help them get into Tier III colleges or even in courses such as Forestry or Agriculture.
Students also asked that since reappearing for KCET is for scoring better, it is not a supplementary exam. So, why are the students at fault for reappearing
Who is supporting students?
Student groups like AIDSO (All India Democratic Students' Organisation) and NSUI (National Students' Union of India).
When will the counselling process commence?
For now, the document verification process is underway online on the KEA website. The counselling process will begin towards the end of this month, subject to the order of the Karnataka High Court, according to the KEA.
