While the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) officials said it is definite that a separate Common Entrance Test (CET) for BE courses would be held, the fate of MBBS aspirants is still unknown. It looks like aspiring medicos will have to appear for the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) in 2013.
As per the current arrangement, the government has agreed that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will conduct NEET UG medical, and counselling will be conducted by KEA.
The counselling and the seat selection process will be conducted in seven centres - Bangalore, Mangalore, Hubli, Mysore, Gulbarga, Shimoga and Belgaum.
For the CET 2012, there were 13 designated centres for counselling across the state, where students could easily approach the nearest helpline centres. But with the reduction in the number of centres, students have to approach the main centres for counselling processes.
According to a KEA official, there will definitely be a separate CET for BE courses as followed earlier. “But there in no clarity about NEET UG medical courses, although it is agreed that the counselling will be conducted by KEA as per the reservation policy of the state. There will be no increase in the number of counselling centres as the test will be conducted by CBSE,” the KEA official said.
“Representatives from the Higher Education Department, Medical Education Department and KEA will attend a meeting held by the CBSE next week in New Delhi, to address the problems,” the official added.
The official said that there is a request for the test to be conducted in Kannada.