Why a Karnataka HC order has brought both relief and disappointment to Engg college aspirants

The Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) is the nodal agency responsible for conducting examinations for admissions to professional courses. The candidates can then seek admission after verifying their documents such as study certificate, caste certificate, Class 10 marks card, Class 12 marks card, and other documents. Post which, the candidates will receive counselling for selecting their respective colleges.

What changed in CET in 2021?

In 2021, due to the pandemic, the state government decided to cancel the II PU/ Class 12 examinations, and promoted the students based on different criteria. The education department evaluated the candidates after assessing their Class 10 marks and internal assessment marks. Following which, the KEA decided to conduct the CET and evaluate the rankings based on 100% CET score, as against the usual norm, for the academic year 2021-22. Subsequently, candidates were allotted seats in education institutions based on their respective CET ranks determined by CET scores.

How did the CET examination land in a controversy in 2022?

In 2022, the KEA published an information bulletin inviting applications from students for CET that was held in June-July. The bulletin stated that the academic eligibility for engineering and technology courses will be decided by the usual norm of considering equal weightage from QE score and CET score. The KEA had also directed the students to upload their scores of the qualifying examination while they were applying for the CET examination.

On July 30, KEA announced the CET results. A total of 2,10,829 candidates had appeared for the exam, out of which close to 24,000 candidates of CET 2021 had taken the exam for the second time in 2022. However, the KEA evaluated the CET rankings for the repeaters only based on 100% CET score, while for the freshers, the KEA evaluated the CET rankings based on equal weightage of QE and CET scores.

Dubbing this ‘discriminatory’ and ‘unjust’, several repeaters and their parents staged a protest before the KEA office in Bengaluru and moved the Karnataka High Court, seeking evaluation based on equal value of QE and CET scores.

What is the argument of the KEA?

Ramya S, executive director of the KEA, argued that if at all they were to consider equal weightage of QE and CET scores for repeaters to evaluate their CET rankings, it would be unfair for the 2021 CET candidates and the 2022 CET freshers.

The KEA stated that if a CET candidate of 2021 re-appeared for CET examination even in 2023, 2024, or 2025, their evaluation would be the same as the criteria set for the said year, which is based on 100% CET score.

The KEA also highlighted that the marks obtained by the repeaters by the way of internal assessment were not considered for CET rankings for 2021. Similarly, since the said students did not take the qualifying examination which was undisputedly not conducted during 2021, the said internal assessment marks obtained for II PU/ Class 12 cannot be reckoned for CET 2022 and admission for the academic year 2022-23 also.

On July 30, the day the CET results were announced, the KEA issued an order stating that the QE score would not be considered for evaluating the rankings of CET repeaters.

What do the repeaters say?

The repeaters argued that their rankings have drastically dropped following the “unfair” evaluation. Repeaters who had ranks under 10,000 in 2021, ended up with ranks above 1 lakh in 2022. Some of the repeaters took a break and repeated this year to better their CET rankings and secure a seat in a better college. Meanwhile, some of them took a year off to study for NEET (National Eligibility Entrance Test) and kept CET as a fallback option.

A CET repeater argued: “There was no mention in any notification or order that PUC marks would not be considered. This made me take CET once again to better my ranking. However, I ended up with a rank of over 1 lakh with a CET score of 72 this year. Last year I scored 65 in CET and had a ranking of 42,000. With a ranking of over 1 lakh, how am I supposed to get a college of good quality?”

What was the Karnataka High Court verdict on the CET controversy?

The repeaters filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court in August, seeking a 50-50 weightage of QE and CET scores for CET ranking. Justice Krishna Kumar on September 3 allowed the petitions filed by the repeaters and directed the KEA to re-do the entire CET ranking by considering 50% of QE and 50% of CET scores for the repeaters. The HC also dubbed KEA’s move “arbitrary” and “discriminatory”.

The HC also quashed the KEA’s order of July 30, saying that the bulletin issued by the KEA before the examination clearly says the eligibility to gain admission would depend on both II PUC/ Class 12 marks and CET marks in equal proportion, and there is no mention of not considering II PUC/ Class 12 marks for CET ranking for the academic year 2022-23. The HC also observed that the impugned order of the KEA is “unreasoned”, “non-speaking”, “cryptic” and shows no “application of mind”.

The HC also observed that not accepting the II PUC/ Class 12 marks can lead to “absurd” consequences.

What do the freshers have to say?

Aditya Biradar, a KCET fresher, who has started an online petition against the HC verdict, said: “Considering that most of the students are from the state board and got their board marks without writing any sort of written exam, it will significantly affect all the freshers’ CET rankings.”

Shiv Santosh, another fresher who secured a rank of 24,443 said, “This decision is really disappointing. After the revaluation my ranking might go up by a thousand points. I am tense and I will get a clear picture only after the re-evaluation is done. However, I might still seek admissions through CET ranking rather than COMEDK (Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka) ranking.”

Abhishek D, who secured 20,300 rank, said, “With the redoing of the entire CET rankings, it will only further damage the academic prospects of the freshers. My rankings might plummet by at least 10,000 and I might not get a good college. My aim is to pursue computer science engineering with the current ranking. However, if my rankings are changed I have to opt for mechanical engineering which has very low job prospects.”

What is the government’s stand on the CET row?

Higher Education Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, expressing his concern for the freshers, on Monday announced that the government would be challenging the HC order. The minister said that the HC decision would drastically change the ranks of the freshers, and would be unfair to them.

Ramya, head of KEA, also said that, “Usually we witness around 2,000-3,000 repeaters every year during the CET examination. However, this year the number is close to 24,000, which is unusually high. Hence, redoing the rankings will hamper the academic prospects of over 1.5 lakh students.”

The government has also assured that the counselling for CET will begin soon, following which classes would commence.