Colleges in Tamilnadu Face Confusion regarding Admissions in 2006 Session
Tamil Nadu is considered the hub of technical education in India, with
people from all parts of the country seeking a degree from the various
institutions in the state.
But it seems the brand has grown bigger than the product.
The last two years have witnessed political interference, campus violence and complete confusion during admissions to engineering and medical colleges.
Now, a nightmarish academic year awaits thousands of students in Tamil Nadu. The only certainty about the admission procedure so far is its complete uncertainty.
Entrance test scrapped
On June 6 last year the state government plunged the process in confusion by scrapping the Common Entrance Test or the TNPCEE.
No common test means no equal grading system for thousands of students from various Boards.
Students took the government to court and won and the test was restored.
But with politicians muddying the waters, the issue was unlikely to die down. The Opposition PMK kept up its demand for scrapping the test in its bid to champion the cause of rural students.
"Rural students are very much affected only due to the entrance test. Even the rural students are getting good marks in plus two examination.
"They are not able to get good marks in entrance exam because they have to go for special classes, coaching classes, they have to spend more money," said K Balu, Lawyer, PMK.
Several academicians support the move to scrap the CET in principle. They say, the fewer the exams a student has to write, the better it is for the student community.
Urban-rural divide
But the government's reasoning in scrapping the CET has been that it favours urban students and creates an urban-rural divide. But that reasoning seems to be flawed.
Statistics show that even if the entrance test is based just on plus two exams results, urban students are far ahead of their rural counterparts.
For instance, last year nearly 2,36,000 science group students wrote the 12th standard board exam. Of that only 1,68,000 proceeded to write the common entrance test. Only 20 per cent were from rural schools.
Rural students are forced to give up their engineering dreams going just by their Board exam results.
Students are also finally speaking out in favour of the test because there is little faith in the state board exams.
"Basically you mug up the book you can get good marks in your papers. So in case everyone gets good marks in their papers it will be very tough to differentiate between one another rank-wise.
"So basically the TNPCEE which is more general, it's like general knowledge and I think it differentiates the students," said a student.
The Madras High Court has called the scrapping of the entrance test illegal. But the government is not giving up. Now the Supreme Court will decide the case.
Privatising education
Over the last decade, technical education has moved largely into the hands of private players, people who will be unable to subsidise education for their students.
Many of these institutions are excellent but some are very unscrupulous. That is the threat that faces rural and poor students.
This year, self-financing colleges are already talking about doubling their fees and they have also refused to surrender their seats to the government.
It means students have to write a separate entrance test for these colleges. Nobody regulates their fee structure and there is little transparency in their admission procedure.
"If any college is taking capitation fees if you take any proper acknowledgement or receipt, then we are responsible," said Dr TD Naidu, President, All India Engineering Association.
But there are no receipts for such fees. Registered as charitable institutions, they charge figures that most rural students simply cannot afford.
"The medical seat I had to pay about Rs 18 lakh for an institution here. Some of the institutions naturally make it on account, but some of them do not make it on account. It all happens and when Rs three lakh was paid for my son, that happened the same way," said N Nageswaran, parent.
"These are supposed to be charitable institutions and we make these payments. A few colleges ask you to sign a form saying that you're making a donation to the college and only if you make that donation you get into the college," said Varun B Krishnan, student.
Power struggle
People are now viewing even deemed universities with suspicion after violence on their campuses.
A struggle for supremacy between the AICTE and UGC led to the chaos, but already there is a dip in sale of applications.
"Making something out of nothing is because of the fact that deemed universities are getting more students and they are finishing their admission in time and they are starting their class in time.
"Rather than any other government or other colleges, I think they achieved their goal whatever it is," said P Sathyanarayanan, Vice Chancellor, SRM Deemed University.
Now, parents and students are desperate for an overhaul of the entire entrance system. But sceptics know that in the field of learning, even a little politics can be a dangerous thing.
Sourse NDTV.com
