CET put off to May 21-23 Results On June 6, Hall Tickets Will Be Sent By May 11

Sruthy Susan Ullas TNN 

Bangalore: Throwing the academic schedule of more than 6 lakh students out of gear, the Karnataka government on Tuesday postponed the Common Entrance Test (CET) to May 21, 22 and 23. The test was earlier scheduled to be held on May 3 and 4. The postponement is a ripple effect of PU question paper leaks and the valuators’ strike. 
    The CET results will be published on June 6. Verification of documents at helpline centres will begin on June 13. 
    Admission tickets will be sent on or after May 11. The students can also download their admission tickets from the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) website. The schedules notified in the CET-2012 brochure for seat selection, and other procedures, are unchanged. 
    The academic calendar of the department of pre-university education has gone awry due to unprecedented developments. The question paper leaks delayed the schedule by a week. The situation was aggravated by the PU lecturers going on strike. The department had planned to announce 
the results by April 26 — before the students wrote CET. 
CETBACK FOR STUDENTS 
• With CET dates rejigged to May 21-23, students planning to take several other entrance exams face severe time squeeze 

• Between May 5 and 27, more than half-adozen entrance tests to KLE varsity, Armed Forces Medical College and all-India medical and dental admissions, among others, are scheduled 

• The delayed CET calendar likely to affect the rollout of BA, BSc, BCom academic calendar too TESTING TIMES Finding new CET dates was tough for KEA 
Bangalore: With the national exam calendar packed, the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) had a tough task finding new dates for the Common Entrance Test (CET). 
    The KLE University All-India Entrance Test — 2012 is scheduled for May 5; Armed 
Forces Medical College and ComedK entrance tests are on May 6; All-India Pre-Medical/Dental Entrance Exam and Common Law Entrance Test are on May 13; Banaras Hindu University has it on May 16; Christian Medical College, Vellore, has scheduled it for May 18; Amrita University on May 19; St Johns Medical College and JIPMER entrance tests are on May 27. 
    The KEA also had to counter-check with the CBSE as the AIEEE online window was between May 7 and 26. 
    The postponement of CET was inevitable because the same lecturers are going to be involved in the logistics. Pretest work for CET usually starts by April 23. This includes the despatch of OMR sheets, question papers and hall tickets. There is a series of meetings during this period. The PU lecturers perform different roles and PU colleges become the centre of activity. 
    CET is taken by around 1.5 lakh science students for entry into medical, dental and engineering colleges. This is the first time that seat selection process will take place online. 
    By the time the students sit for CET, they would have already known the results of the other competitive exams like IIT-JEE (May 18). 
    Nithin Kumar K, a student of Jnanodaya PU College who is taking CE, the Comed-K test and AIEEE, says: "Now I go for tuitions focused on CET as it was supposed to be the first and most important exam for me. But now AIEEE will be my first exam. Even when all other exams get over, we cannot relax and have to continue our preparations for CET. We started with intense preparations last March. The tension will go on till August. There is so much confusion. It's so frustrating!” 
    In the meantime, valuation of II PU answerscripts has resumed with more than 90% of the lecturers reporting to work. Some of them, who had gone to their hometowns or had travelled to Bangalore for the protests, are yet to reach the valuation centres.

MUCH AT STAKE: CET is taken by 1.5 lakh science students for entry into medical, dental and engineering colleges in Karnataka