The Karnataka government has decided to go ahead with the Karnataka Common Entrance Test or KCET in July despite several objections raised by students. The news was confirmed to India TV Digital by Dr. Ashwathnarayan CN, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Higher Education. The entrance exam is slated to take place on July 30 and 31. "We will go ahead with KCET exams on the decided dates. There is no plan to change dates as of now," Dr. Ashwathnarayan told India TV Digital.
Meanwhile, students have been demanding postponement or cancellation of the entrance exam. "We want our exams postponed. Health is more important than education. Government has to reconsider this decision," Nayana wrote on Twitter. Manasvi, another student, said she wanted postponement of KCET exam. "We don't want KCET exams to be cancelled, instead we are asking them to be postponed till coronavirus cases come down," she said.
"The situation in Karnataka is terrible. We are at almost 3,000 cases a day and 3,000 containment zones in Bengaluru alone. This is no time to conduct examinations," a student expressed concern.
Last week, the Karnataka government had announced its decision to promote all intermediate semester students pursuing degree and post-graduation courses including engineering and diploma for the academic year 2019-2020 without examinations due to prevailing COVID-19 situation. The examinations for the final semester students would be conducted before the end of September 2020. However, it categorically mentioned that the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET) 2020 examination will be held on the decided dates.
Earlier, the KCET exam was scheduled between April 22 to April 24 but got postponed due to COVID-19 concerns. The exam, conducted in English or Kannada medium, provides admissions to Engineering, Pharmacy, Pharma D, and other courses.
On Wednesday, Karnataka reported the highest single-day spike in coronavirus numbers with 3,176 cases and 87 deaths. The infection count has risen to 47,253 and fatalities to 928. Bengaluru has reported 22,994 coronavirus cases so far. Of these, 17,051 are active cases while 5,455 were discharged. About 437 people have died in the capital so far.
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