Students who are appearing for the Common Entrance Test (CET) 2024 on April 18 and 19, and their parents have expressed their disappointment with the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) about the allotment of examination centres.
For many students, CET examination centres are 15 to 30 kilometres away from their houses.
“My family resides in RPC Layout near Vijayanagara. But the examination centre for my daughter is allotted in a school in Bismillah Nagar, near Bannerghatta Road, which is 25 kilometres away. It will take at least one-and-a-half hours to reach there by a private vehicle and double the time if she chooses to go by bus,” said Mahalakshmi D.R., mother of a CET candidate.
She added: “Students are already under so much stress because of examinations and this long commute just adds to the anxiety.”
Another candidate staying in Jayanagar reportedly got their centre in Yelahanka while someone staying in Banashankari was allotted a centre in Peenya.
Former Education Minister and senior BJP leader S. Suresh Kumar also slammed the KEA for allotting such centres. He said that he had received many complaints about candidates not being able to download their CET admission tickets. “Students are already tense. Why are they playing with their lives?” he asked.
KEA says allotment random
KEA authorities said that the whole of Bengaluru Urban district is treated as a single unit and thus, candidates are allotted a centre anywhere within the district. “The centres and the candidates in Bengaluru Urban district are all randomised and allotment happens. We do not have any criteria to determine the exam centres which are near the candidates’ houses,” said S. Ramya, Executive Director, KEA.
She added: “Candidates can indicate priority 1 and priority 2 and we usually give them centres near their first priority unless there are too many students there, then we give them their second priority.”
Further, she said that only for candidates who have chosen the clause C and clause D in their applications and will be writing their exams in Kannada, Mangaluru, Bengaluru, and Belagavi are given as centres irrespective of their choices.
