A career gateway?

Chennai, Dec. 6: The DMK government today abolished the common entrance test (CET) for admissions to Tamil Nadu’s engineering, medical/dental and agriculture institutes from 2007-08. Entry to these courses will depend on marks in plus two exams, but there will be a “normalisation formula” to make sure students of all boards are put on an even keel.

The Tamil Nadu Admission in Professional Educational Institutions Bill passed in the Assembly today requires professional educational institutions — those that get government aid and those that don’t — to conduct admissions “on the basis of the marks obtained by a student in the relevant subjects in the qualifying examination (plus two)”. They will have to comply with quotas, too.

The bill had the support of all parties, except the Opposition ADMK, all of whose members were evicted by the Speaker earlier in the day for disrupting proceedings. The MDMK also walked out of the House in protest.

The bill requires the President’s assent since it concerns education, which is on the Constitution’s concurrent list — which mentions the areas in which both states and the central government can frame and enact laws. Last month, a panel headed by M. Ananthakrishnan, a former vice-chancellor of Anna University, had recommended the abolition of CET from 2007-08.

The stated objective was to help poor rural students who have no access to the “urban teaching shops that charge huge fees to prepare candidates for CET”. After assuming office in summer this year, the DMK government had declared its intention — in the governor’s maiden address to the new Assembly — to ensure a “level-playing field” for students of rural and urban families. Two such attempts by the Jayalalithaa-led ADMK regime had been struck down by Madras High Court.

The bill proposes a normalisation formula to ensure equality of opportunity in admission to students of different boards — one of the Ananthakrishnan panel’s key suggestions.

Students who clear their plus two exam from the Tamil Nadu board can apply for admission to the professional courses on the basis of their qualifying marks.

The normalisation formula for students of other boards, like the CBSE, is based on the BITS Pilani model.

“The highest mark obtained by the students of various boards in each subject shall be equated to the highest mark obtained by students of the state (Tamil Nadu) board in that subject,” says the bill passed today.