Bengaluru: A total of 1,958 candidates appeared for the Kannada language test for border and overseas Kannadiga students on Tuesday in the Common Entrance Test (CET) 2025, the gateway to admissions for professional undergraduate courses in the state.
The new security system based on facial recognition started smoothly on day 1. The Kannada exam was held at five centres in Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Vijayapura, and Belagavi. In all, 542 candidates were absent.
In line with national-level exams such as the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) has introduced a facial recognition system in CET this year to ensure candidate authenticity and curb impersonation. As students walked into the exam centre, officials scanned the QR codes on their admit cards, screened their faces through a mobile app, and allowed them in.
Several candidates appreciated the new measures. “I really liked the facial recognition process. It’s quicker and eliminates the need to manually verify Aadhaar and admit cards,” said Aadarsh Patil, who travelled from Hyderabad for the exam at Govt Boys’ PU College in Malleswaram.
Parents, too, acknowledged the technological shift. “Back when I wrote CET, we didn’t have such conveniences. The AI bots and digitised process have truly eased the experience,” said Aparna Shyam, mother of a KCET aspirant.
However, the debut of facial recognition wasn’t without hiccups. Puneeth Agasmath, a candidate, reported a glitch with his admit card. “My photo didn’t show up on the printed admit card, despite uploading it properly. It’s likely a back-end error. I had to wait 15 minutes while they verified my identity.”
While the QR code of some students did not function, officials managed to track them through their register number. A staff member assisting with the process explained: “Manual verification continues to play a role in tandem with AI, ensuring prevention of proxy exams and reducing the overall stress and waiting time for candidates.”
The main exam for physics, chemistry, mathematics, and biology (PCMB) will be held on April 16 and 17. An estimated 2.6 lakh candidates are expected to appear for PCMB and 76,000 for PCM combinations.
KEA executive director H Prasanna confirmed that preparations for the main exam are in their final stages. The exam will be conducted across 775 centres statewide, including 155 in Bengaluru. To ensure fairness, KEA has implemented strict security measures and will monitor the proceedings via webcasting.
— Disha Chatterjee & Deepshikha Acharya