The Karnataka CET exams scheduled to be held on 7, 8 and 9 July 2021 have been postponed to 28, 29, 30 August this year. This decision was taken due to the postponement of the annual 2nd PUC examinations and on consideration of the rising COVID-19 cases in Karnataka, a statement by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) said.
"Common Entrance Test-2021 scheduled to be held on 07-07-2021 and 08-07-2021 and Kannada Language Test on 09-07-2021 has been postponed. Now, CET-2021 will be conducted on 28-08-2021 and 29-08-2021 and Kannada Language Test on 30-08-2021; further applications will be invited through online shortly," the statement said.
"For latest updates, candidates must remain in touch with the KEA Website (http://kea.kar.nic.in)," the statement added.
Earlier in February, the dates for the CET exams were decided and the tests were set to be held in July. But with a lockdown in place in Karnataka till May 24 and with the 2nd PUC examinations affected, the KEA decided to postpone the CET exams till the end of August. This alters the academic calendar of students for the second year in a row after the examination was similarly postponed due to the lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic last year. It was eventually held at the end of July 2020.
The CET examination is for admission to undergraduate professional courses and there were around 1.92 lakh students who registered for it last year.
57 students infected with the coronavirus also got the opportunity to write the exam in separate rooms last year. The Karnataka government arranged transportation and food facilities for students infected with the coronavirus who were writing the examination. The examinations went ahead despite a petition in the High Court asking for the examinations to be deferred.