If you are planning to take the Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges in Karnataka (Comed-K) entrance test next year for admission to management quota seats in private professional colleges, then better start improving your English language skills.

For, Comed-K is contemplating to introduce English as a paper for its entrance test -2008. This paper would be in addition to the four core subjects -. Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology.

All aspiring candidates will have to compulsorily appear for the English language paper irrespective of their choice of stream- medical or engineering.

Students opting only for engineering seats can skip the biology paper, while those opting only for medical and dental courses can skip maths paper.

Another proposal before Comed-K is to give preference to candidates who complete their second-year pre-university or equivalent examination in one attempt. If a candidate passes the examination in various attempts then there would be proportionate negative weightage.

Preference is also being proposed to be given to freshers (candidates who pass their II PU exam or equivalent in 2008).

The changes are being mooted to give preference to freshers and ensure the quality of students entering professional colleges.

“There are instances when candidates who have completed the II PU years ago appear for the entrance test. These students prepare only for the entrance test from tailor-made coaching centres set up only for such purposes. This trend is more in students from North India,” Comed-K sources said. These coaching centres are rampant in Bihar and UP and their only matra is imparting training in Multiple Choice Questions.

“As only the entrance test marks are considered while arriving at the rank list both for medical and engineering streams, there is no way we can differentiate between freshers and repeaters. There are instances when students who have completed their 12th more than 10 years back figure in the rank-list. Our proposal is to allot negative weightage to such candidates”.

Introduction of the English language paper would also ensure that students from these tailor-made centres, who have been belting out training programmes only in the core subjects, are restrained, sources added.