A committee of experts on Thursday suggested deduction of an average five to seven marks in Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics subjects for ‘normalisation’ of the marks of the students, who passed II PU in 2021, to consider even their II PU marks along with the CET-2022 marks in the ratio of 50:50 for allotting CET ranks as was done in the case of students who passed II PU in 2022.
The report of the committee was submitted before a Division Bench, comprising acting Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice S. Vishwajith Shetty, during the hearing on appeals filed by the government and the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA).
The committee suggested a scientific formula for ‘normalisation’ of higher marks awarded to the students, who passed II PU in 2021 benefiting from the marks awarded by way of a special methodology in view of non conduct of annual exams due to COVID-19 last year.
It has been suggested in the committee’s report to follow the root mean square (RMS) method for normalising the marks of the 2021 batch of II PU students with that 2022 batch.
“Applying RMS method would ensure that not only the central pool but also the entire data set is normalised, and leads to almost similar inference,” it has been stated in the report.
The exercise of ‘normalisation’ would result in deduction of an average six marks in Physics, five marks in Chemistry, and seven marks in Mathematics, the committee said in the report.
The report made it clear that applying the marks after ‘normalisation’ in 50:50 may improve the ranks of students who passed II PU in 2021 and may affect the ranking of the students who passed II PU in 2022.
To address this issue, the committee has suggested that the number of seats in the information technology related courses can be increased by 10% to safeguard the interest of students who passed II PU in 2022, the committee suggested.
The government had set up the committee, headed by B. Thimme Gowda, Vice-Chairman, Karnataka State Higher Education Council, on September 20 after the Division Bench on September 19 asked the government to explore possibilities to find an amicable solution, which is acceptable to both the sections of the students, those who wrote II PU in 2021 and in 2022.
Some students who passed II PU in 2021 had filed petitions questioning non consideration of 50% of their II PU marks for allotting ranks.
A Bench on September 3 allowed their petitions, and quashed the rank list while directing the KEA to redo the ranking by considering marks in 50:50 ratio even for the students who passed II PU in 2021. However, the government and the KEA filed appeals against this order.
