BENGALURU: Parents and students applying to various courses through the Karnataka Examination Authority’s (KEA) Common Entrance Exam (CET) are in a fix as close deadlines, late night issuance of seat allotment and bank holidays are making it difficult to complete the admission procedure.
Late on September 7, KEA announced the Round-2 seat allotment results for Engineering, Architecture, B-Pharma, BSc (Nursing) and other courses. Choice selection can be done from September 8 to 10 (1 pm- 11:59 pm) and September 11, banking hours.
Parents have complained that CET seat allotment announcements are being issued only post 8 p.m., which is making the entire process very tiresome and complicated. “They issued the list on Thursday night and challan lists on Friday, but the deadline for fees is Monday, How does one finish all these procedures? Saturday and Sunday are bank holidays. They could have planned better,” said a parent whose child has applied for a Mechanical Engineering course.
Some parents have also pointed out that the entire procedure this year is very rushed, leaving very little choice for students. “Comed-K process has been completed, this is the last resort for students,” said another parent.
Addressing issues faced by students, KEA Director Ramya S told TNIE, “There is an online option to pay fees, and since it’s less than Rs 1 lakh, not everyone needs to collect the challans. Transactions can be made quickly via NEFT. In case many are unable to lock seats, we can extend it by two days, depending on the situation.”
The director added that the lists are available only after 8 p.m. as the software is continuously functioning. “The software takes time, there are various courses and seats, names are to be removed from engineering, then added to other courses, sorting out all this is time-consuming,” she said.
Ramya stated that the circulars are issued well in advance, and parents need not worry as their requests and complaints will be taken into consideration. Higher Education Minister MC Sudhakar said he is not aware of the situation and will speak to the officials concerned.