Patna: Raj Bhavan on Monday declared results of the first BEd combined entrance test conducted by the Nalanda Open University last week.

Vivek Kumar Singh, principal secretary to the governor, released the results in the presence of Nalanda Open University (NOU) vice-chancellor Rabindra Kishore Sinha, registrar S.P. Sinha and other officials.

Registrar Singh said: "The results were declared on Monday. Based on the results, NOU will conduct counselling of students from July 27 to August 8 at Gyan Bhavan of Samrat Ashok Convention Hall."

Manish Kumar and Monika are among the top candidates in the combined BEd examination conducted on July 15. Manish scored 91 out of 120 marks and Monika 90 of 120.

Of 82,132 candidates who had written the examination, 61,000 have been declared successful for around 33,700 BEd seats in 314 private and government colleges.

The authorities will check the successful candidates' educational certificates and other documents in the counselling sessions.

The government, on the advice of the chancellor, held the combined BEd entrance test for the first time this year to bring transparency in the admission process.

Earlier, several anomalies were reported in admission to BEd courses, including back-door admissions in private colleges.

Governor Satya Pal Malik, who is also chancellor of state universities, had flagged corruption in BEd colleges while attending a function at AN College in March.

He said opening private BEd colleges has become a thriving business in the state with many politicians involved in it. On July 15, too, he spoke on the pressure he had to face after announcing the centralised admission process.

Results of the centralised admission process has brought cheer among many candidates.

Anupam Gupta, one of the candidates who cleared the examination, said: "We are happy that this time the government conducted a centralised admission process for BEd courses. Students, based on their marks and category, will now take admission in different colleges."

He also claimed that this process will help check malpractices in BEd colleges, especially private institutions.

The university will release on July 30 the list of institutions in which admission can be taken. On August 1, the university will ask the candidates to give their preference.

Candidates will then be allotted seats based on marks and category.

Sources said candidates will prefer government BEd colleges over private institutions because of the fee structure.