15 private varsities get notices over admission tests

15 private varsities get notices over admission tests

SruthySusan.Ullas@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:  06.06.2020

The admission overseeing committee for professional courses in Karnataka has slapped notices on 15 private universities for announcing separate tests for engineering and management admissions and inviting applications even before class 12 exams are completed.

According to the Supreme Court, institutions offering the same discipline should conduct a common entrance test and centralised counselling instead of holding their own test, burdening students. “…Single-window system of admission is necessary in order to achieve the twin objectives of transparency and merit, all institutions of the same or similar type, whether minority or non-minority institution, will therefore be required to fill their seats through a single entrance test...,” the apex court had said in its judgment in the TMA Pai Foundation case. Such colleges have to come together and conduct an entrance test.

Till last year, while some institutions held their own entrance tests, others were relying on ComedK scores. However, the number of institutions holding their own tests increased this year. With this, students have been forced to pay for separate application forms and write multiple tests for an engineering seat.

The committee headed by Justice B Manohar has sent notices to15 institutions and warned them of action if they fail to comply.“...Necessary recommendation will be made to the apex bodies and state government to take over the admission process and to substitute its own procedure for selection of a student,” said the notification sent to the institutions.

“Students are forced to apply to different colleges. They have to cough up application fees to all these colleges, write exams for these universities as they cannot take a chance and undergo unnecessary stress. Some of the colleges have already received around 15,000 applications,” said Justice B Manohar.

Multiple exams

An engineering aspirant in the state has to appear for multiple entrance tests to have a safe option: Joint Entrance Examination (Advanced) for IITs, JEE Main for NITs, Common Entrance Test for engineering seats in Karnataka, ComedK for seats in private engineering colleges, entrance tests for deemed-to-be and private universities in Karnataka and other states.

Matter of branding

For many private institutions, conducting their own test is a matter of branding as much as it is about autonomy and cherry-picking.

“We started doing the test because all prestigious institutions have it and it’s a matter of branding. But, we are ready to join others if a common test is mooted,” said a top private university in the state.