Daijiworld News Network- Mangalore (AF)
                                                  
Mangalore, May 11: Private institutions should not conduct separate entrance tests for professional courses, said Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarti Parishat state secretary Prabhudev Kappagal, while speaking to reporters here on Wednesday May 10.

He said that the separate entrance tests conducted by COMED-K were in violation of the order of Karnataka Professional Education Institutions Act. Students are forced to answer three different tests to get into engineering or medical courses. He also condemned the attitude of D H Shankar Murthy, minister for higher education in this regard.

He proposed that only one CET should be conducted and accordingly, there should be a single merit list, as per the order of the Supreme Court. The government should take care of the fee of students from rural areas who score more than 75 per cent and meritorious students from financially poor background should be given partial reservation and fee concession, he said.

He urged the state government to install a Karnataka Education Development Bank, which should provide interest-free loans to poor, meritorious students to pursue higher education. Among those present at the press meet were ABVP leaders Harish Poonja and Pradeep.