Karnataka govt shelves free CET crash course for govt college students

BENGALURU: With just a month left for Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET), the govt has shelved its plan of holding free CET crash course for students from govt PU colleges. The students now have to shell out a minimum of Rs 18,000 for 30-day coaching from private institutes.

The department of PU education had planned a 30day residential course for Science students to prepare them for entrance exams like CET. The plan was to identify interested students and conduct classes in a select school in each district. A three-day teacher training programme planned in the second week of March did not take place.

The department cited technical issues for postponing CET coaching. “We encountered some problems in getting critical approvals for the programme since it spans two financial years,” said Bharat S, director, department of PU education.

“Instead, we are coming up with a new model of CET coaching from 2026-27 in PU colleges with our faculty,”he said. The proposal is to build fresh content and deliver it in a year-long format.

CET YouTube sessions from next week: Govt
We are trying to build content with the help of DSERT, which will be delivered along with PU curriculum. This will be a year-long project, and not a crash course,” he said, adding teachers will be trained to deliver CET training.

Online CET coaching programmes — supposed to prepare students for CET 2026 — are yet to restart. “Since exams were going on for PU-2, the classes were not happening. Now we are planning to restart in two phases. Till evaluation of papers is over, we do not have lecturers in colleges. We plan to conduct YouTube sessions starting next week. By March-end, we’ll direct the principal to be available for facilitating sessions,” the director explained.

The govt decision is a big blow for students from low-income households. “Without any alternative, students are approaching private tutorials for entrance coaching. It is common knowledge that entrance coaching is a must to attain a good rank. Poor students are being left out in this race,” said a PU college lecturer.

“Some principals from districts like Vijayanagar and Ballari use various funds like district mining funds to organise some classes in college. A few Bengaluru colleges have tied up with NGOs to get CET classes going. Largely, students are left without any handholding,” said AH Ningegowda, Karnataka State PU College Lecturers’ Association.
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