Good desks and lighting: CET Aspirants' humble demands

The Common Entrance Test (CET) 2018 schedule is yet to be out, but second pre-university (PU) students, who are in the know of the trouble their seniors had to face in the past are demanding better infrastructure facilities from the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) that is conducting the exams. In the past, some OMR sheets were destroyed as students tried to fill them out on broken desks, and some of the centres were poorly lit. Divya H Gowda, a second-PU student from a city college said, “We have had continuous discussions with our seniors and few of them even mentor us. They shared their experience that their OMR sheets were damaged as the desks were not in a good condition. So we are requesting the KEA in advance to provide us good facilities because this exam is important for us.” Manoj Kumar, an engineering graduate, told BM his experience during the CET exam. “My OMR sheet tore when I was answering a question because there was a hole in the desk. My centre was in a top college in south Bengaluru,” he said. Chethan N, who wrote the CET last year, said, “The room at my centre was poorly let. I had to pore into paper throughout the test.” Experts in the city say infrastructure is a key need during examinations. Sridhar G, managing director, Deeksha, said, “The infrastructure of exam centres plays a significant role in a student’s scores and overall concentration. Having well-lit exam halls with lots of fresh air and appropriate acoustics creates the ideal ambience for students to perform well.” He said the Board has gone a step further to ensure the quality of exam centres. “They are proactively identifying new exam centres using video recordings to evaluate the facilities available at the premises,” he added. YK Jayaramappa, CEO, BASE said, the examination centre should be clean too. He said, “Students writing a competitive exam like CET are already under pressure to do well within a time constraint. When they come to an unfamiliar venue, they do not have time to get accustomed to the place. Hence, the exam hall must be hygienic and must be equipped with dust-free desks. Otherwise, the student can’t keep a calm and confident mind that is required to do well in a competitive exam.” However, the Karnataka Examinations Authority has said there are no issues with the infrastructure. An official said, “We work out on the infrastructure aspect systematically and see to it that all students get a comfortable place. The district commissioner takes care of the infrastructure at the centres and all this is after a series of meetings.” Source: Bangaloremirror.com