There’s some good news for those who want to pursue professional courses, but lack fluency in English.
Come 2017, the Common Entrance Test (CET) question papers will go bilingual — each question will be posed in both English and Kannada. Even the CET application form will be bi-lingual.
Sources in the Higher Education Department said that a Government Order will soon be issued to have a bilingual paper for the entrance test that is likely to be scheduled in April/May 2017. The test is a gateway to government or government quota seats in engineering, farm science courses, B. Pharm and Pharm. D, and Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy courses, among others.
The move to have CET question papers in bilingual format is expected to help students from rural areas who find English a challenge. This year, 2.87 lakh students wrote the second PU examination in Kannada, while 3.48 lakh took the exam in English.
An official in the department pointed out that several II PU students find it difficult to even attempt some of the questions as they are unable to comprehend them. “Both, questions and multiple-choice answers will be in Kannada and English,” an official said. The official also hoped that the move would help more rural students get high rankings.
“We want to make sure that language is not a barrier, and the CET tests competencies and ability beyond language.”
The official also pointed out that from next year the CET application form will be available in Kannada, as many candidates were found making errors while filling it.
Medical and dental seat aspirants will have to write the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in English only as it is conducted by CBSE
Reports Tanu Kulkarni for TheHindu
