Bengaluru, Jul 1 (IANS): Karnataka has decided to recruit principals and faculty in state-run colleges through written exams and not interviews, Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan said on Wednesday.

"Appointment of 310 principals and 1,242 assistant professors will be based on written test and not through interview or viva voce to fill vacancies in government colleges," Narayan, who holds portfolios of Higher Education, IT, BT, Science and Technology, told reporters here.

"The direct recruitment process will begin after notification on July 20 and the process will be completed in the next 6 months," he said.

The Higher Education Department is recruiting full-time principals after 2009 and assistant professors after 2017.

"The exam for principal posts will be based on objective-type questions for 100 marks. For assistant professors, it will be for 500 marks, consisting of objective-type questions in optional subjects (250 marks), Kannada and English (100 marks each) and general knowledge (50 marks)," said Narayan.

In a related development, the department has decided to make minimum marks in the Common Entrance Test (CET) as an eligibility criterion for admission to government-run and private engineering colleges across the state.

The Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) of the department will conduct the CET on August 28-30 at 500 centres across the state.

Test in Biology and Mathematics will be on August 28 and in Chemistry and Physics on August 29.

A separate test will be on August 30 in the Kannada language for Kannadiga candidates from other states and in the border regions of the state for admission into engineering, medical, dental and science degree colleges for the 2021-22 academic year.