The State government has decided to bring about a system of having only one common entrance test (CET) for admissions to professional courses from the next academic year by amending the law.
Announcing this during his reply to the debate in the Legislative Assembly on the demand for grants for the education sector, Higher Education Minister R.V. Deshpande said he was holding consultations in this regard with the Law Department.
He said the Karnataka Examinations Authority would pay the fee of the top five CET rank-holders in all the seven disciplines, including medical, dental and engineering.
He said the jurisdiction of the Karnataka State Women’s University, headquartered in Bijapur, would be extended from the present 13 districts to the entire State. The university will have centres in Mandya and Gadag.
The government had also decided to provide 25 per cent relaxation in norms related to compulsory attendance in colleges for sports personalities, he said.
To bring about discipline and to eliminate the scope for corruption, Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education Kimmane Ratnakar has decided to introduce several measures to keep officials in his department on their toes. The measures include reshuffling the entire staff, including officers in the offices of the Block Educational Officer (BEO), the Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) and the educational secretariat every three years. “These staff, including BEOs, will be allowed to stay in a particular place only for three years while DDPIs will have a tenure of only two years,” Mr. Ratnakar said in the Assembly on the demand for grants for the education sector. He also made it clear that the BEOs and DDPIs would be barred from working in their home towns.
