The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Seats aplenty, only the process is complicated

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Sunday, Jun 27, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Seats aplenty, only the process is complicated

By V. Jayanth

CHENNAI, JUNE 26. Be it Anna University, the nodal agency for admissions, or the Consortium of colleges, which will be conducting a parallel admission process this year, the message is very clear — there are more seats than applicants this year too.

As the `D-Day' for counselling fast approaches, there are more butterflies in the stomach this year for the parents, more than the students. Going by the 2003 figures, nearly 80,000 seats that will be on offer in various institutions in Tamil Nadu, over 5,000 have been absorbed already in the 10 deemed universities (see chart). University officials do not expect any major change in numbers as a few cases are pending in court. At best, there may be a few adjustments in courses, within the overall capacity of a college. At least 40,000 seats will get filled through the single-window system (SWS) of the Anna University, with simultaneous counselling in Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Tiruchi, starting from the first week of July. Around 35,000 seats may have to be filled by the Consortium in a separate exercise, which begins with a common entrance test on July 25.

If the past two years are any indication, about 20,000 seats are likely to go abegging in this annual operation.

Sources in Anna University say that going by the transparent, merit-based system of admissions, those coming within the 40,000 mark will be able to get into a college or course of their choice in the university's process. With a week to go, the private, self-financing colleges will have to make up their mind on whether they want to adopt the TNPCEE marks and join the mainstream SWS, or join the Consortium and go through its process of admission. "Our system is expected to go on for about a month at least, in batches," an official explains.

There is no confusion in the University, or in its process. That problem lies in the Consortium and of course with the parents and students. The Consortium has made its position and intentions clear — it is ready to conduct an entrance test, but would certainly like to avoid an SWS. In other words, it would like to provide a window for its constituents to regularise the admissions they have made, but which the Consortium officially denies. Some of the managements are banking on the Consortium to help to achieve this objective.

From the parents' viewpoint, the following are the concerns: (1) They would like their son or daughter to study in a "good college" in a course of their choice, (2) Some have paid money to a private college and "secured" a seat. They would prefer to retain that seat and ensure they do not lose the money, (3) If they do get a seat through the Anna University's SWS, after paying up for a seat separately, they will be in a fix, (4) They are hoping that at least next week, the High Court will clear some of this confusion and give its ruling on the Consortium's case, and (5) They surely hope and pray for some clarity before July 5, when the full-fledged counselling begins.

The parents blame the State authorities for what they call "undue delay" in setting up the Permanent Committee, which had then to come up with the framework and procedures. The Consortium gets its quota of the blame for dragging its feet and seeking a legal redress for all the problems. "If only they had started the process in March and laid out the procedure by April, I am sure we could have been saved of this tension, torture, delay and perhaps loss of money," reasons R. Jagadeesan, who has got a seat for his daughter in a private college already and does not know what to do now. His suggestion is that the court, the Anna University and the Consortium should agree to follow last year's system now and put off the new operations to next year.

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