COMED-K's decision to cancel UGET takes students by surprise

Bengaluru: The late night decision of the Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka (COMED-K) to cancel the medical and dental Under Graduate Entrance Test (UGET) scheduled for Sunday following an interim order of the Supreme Court, left many students confused.

The announcement was made at around 11 pm  Friday night on its website,  taking many students by surprise. Several rushed to its office  in the morning to check for themselves. The notification on the website said while the medical and dental UGET was being cancelled , the entrance exam for engineering would be held on May 8 as scheduled.

Several students felt  COMED-K should have cancelled the UGET much before Friday. “The  SC had made its displeasure clear on admission tests by  private colleges on Thursday, but COMED-K announced its decision lonely ate Friday, creating confusion,” pointed out Ms. Bhuvi Shreyas, a student from Kerala.

“Most students from outside the state opt for COMED-K  for MBBS and BDS courses as Karnataka has highest number of private medical and dental colleges offering them and there are a  greater number of seats available here. And with COMED-K proposing an online admission test to be conducted by TCS this year, the interest was even greater as students felt there would  be no scope for any kind of irregularity this way. But now it has been cancelled and I am disappointed,” said Goutham Mehta, a student from Delhi, however adding that he welcomed  NEET,  as it was expected to bring radical changes in the medical admission process.

Meanwhile COMEDK officials clarified that the Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics entrance tests would be held as scheduled. “Only the Biology paper has been cancelled. We are just following the Supreme Court’s directions,” said an officer.

Way forward for students
Students, who had applied for the COMED-K Medical/ Dental UGET , have no choice now but to prepare for  NEET Phase 2. According to an officer of the state medical education department, most applicants for the COMED-K UGET are from other states as Karnataka has the largest numbers of medical and dental seats under the all- India merit quota. “The quota will remain, but the students will have to appear for NEET  on July 24 to get a seat under it in Karnataka’s colleges,” he explained.

No impact on seat Matrix & consensual agreement
Dr. M.R.Jayaram , honorary secretary, Karnataka Private Medical Colleges Association , says  the cancellation of COMED-K’s Medical and Dental UGET will not have any impact on the admission process and the seat matrix.

Officers of the state higher education department meanwhile believe seats could even now be allotted based on the  consensual agreement as  the Karnataka Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Determination of Fee) Act, 2006  prescribes a mandatory reservation of 50 per cent. “We are expecting a consensual agreement as private colleges are unlikely to opt for the reservation,” said a senior officer.

Private universities'  admission tests
While COMED-K has cancelled its medical and dental admission test, none of the private universities have taken such a decision. Students, who have applied for the admission tests of the deemed universities, say they have received no intimation about their cancellation.  “All the private medical universities are continuing with their admission tests,” said Ajay Shrivatsav, a student from the city, adding,”I have applied to three private universities and when I called them to check the status of the admission test, they said there was no change in their schedule.”

Refund issue
Parents of the students are worried  about the refund of the examination fee they have paid for the cancelled tests. “Most of the students have applied for multiple medical admission tests and the  fee for each is around Rs.2,500. If they cancel the tests, they must refund  the fee.And so many universities and colleges are silent on the examination controversy.

A few have made the admission test optional now to avoid the refund mess,” said one anxious parent,  Shankara Narayan Bhat. Mr B N Subramanya, CEO of Era Foundation , which  collaborated with COMED-K to conduct the Medical/Dental UGET , said it must also take a decision on refunding the fee collected from students who had applied  for it, now that it has  been cancelled.