BENGALURU: As many as 3,30,479 students, 144,380 boys and 1,86,099 girls, are set to appear for the Common Entrance Test (CET) to be conducted by the Karnataka Examinations Authority on Thursday and Friday.
For the first time, there will be a dress code officer in each exam centre to avoid confusion among students. In all, 745 such officers have been deputed across the state. Students have to follow guidelines like wearing half-sleeve clothing and preferably clothes without collars. For boys, simple pants with no or minimal pockets are allowed while kurta-pyjama or jeans as well as shoes are prohibited.
Mobile phones, bluetooth devices, earphones, microphones and all types of electronic gadgets are strictly banned. Candidates should carefully read the dress code instructions on the KEA website before attending to avoid any confusion at the last moment, the KEA said.
The CET is conducted for admission to professional courses like engineering, agricultural sciences and veterinary sciences. Candidates from border areas and other states will write the Kannada language test on April 22 in five centres across Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Vijayapura and Belagavi. Physics and chemistry exams will be held on April 23 while mathematics and biology will be on April 24.
Tight security arrangements have been made to prevent malpractice in exam halls. CCTV camera surveillance will be on, similar to recruitment exams. All 745 centres will be monitored through webcasting. District commissioners and zilla panchayat CEOs will oversee arrangements at the district level.
In Bengaluru alone, 77,604 candidates will appear across 163 centres. A central command centre has been set up at the KEA office in Malleswaram.
Candidates must arrive at least two hours before the exam due to strict checking procedures. A total of 970 differently-abled candidates will be provided necessary facilities. Those using hearing aids must report two hours early for additional verification. Sensitive centres are equipped with mobile phone signal jammers to prevent cheating.
The KEA has also included facial recognition and QR code verification system to prevent impersonation of candidates. The same verification will be used during college admission as well.
“Students who scored low marks or failed in the II PUC exam-1 still have a chance to improve. They must not skip the CET exams. Marks from the second exam will also be considered in CET results. Candidates must fill the OMR sheet carefully and their CET registered number along with question paper version code and serial number. Mistakes in these details have previously caused result issues, so candidates must be careful,” it said.
