Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister C. N. Ashwathnarayan on Tuesday, June 15, 2021, announced that the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET) 2021 marks shall not be a criterion for this year’s admission to Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.). Today, June 16, 2021, the deputy CM held a meeting with vice-chancellors of various state institutions regarding academic activities. During the meeting, he conveyed the decision regarding the B.Sc. course criteria. This decision is contrary to last week when the state department for higher education was looking to consider KCET 2021 marks for B.Sc. course admission.
In view of the II PUC or Class 12 board exams for the academic year 2020-21, it seemed more practical to take KCET 2021 marks into consideration for B.Sc. admissions. However, the state decided against this. Apart from this, various other matters were discussed during the meeting today. This year, the number of students applying for various courses is likely to increase. Hence, authorities discussed the various options to accommodate that many students. Furthermore, the implementation of E-Office Software was also discussed.
The state education department has instructed all universities to begin the undergraduate courses for the academic 2021-22 as decided by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. II PUC has been cancelled and students shall be promoted with grades based on their I PUC marks. This shall lead to a potential increase in the number of aspirants for degree-college admissions. In case universities begin the 4-year undergraduate courses, it will help to include more students into the program. Hence, this seems like the right time to implement the education policy.
As regards the E-Office Software, the Unified University College Management System, has been granted permission to begin a trial run from June 25, 2021. This software was created by the E-Office. Considering the academic calendar, this software is proposed to be incorporated onto the academic matters from July 15, 2021. Hence, all institutions have been instructed to be ready with this software on or before the July 15, 2021.
The deputy CM of Karnataka has also instructed the vice-chancellors of all varsities to communicate with the government only through the E-Office. Invariably, the implementation of this software has been made mandatory. The minister also clarified that the academic calendar for the next two years has already been curated. Therefore, Vice-Chancellors are instructed to start the first-year admission process in the first-week of October 2021.
Yesterday, KCET 2021 registration process began on the official website kea.kar.nic.in and shall continue till July 10, 2021. The last date to pay the application fee is July 13, 2021. The state-level entrance test is scheduled to be conducted on August 28 and 29, 2021 through the offline mode.
