The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : End of a long, anxious wait

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 28, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

End of a long, anxious wait

Vani Doraisamy

Court order on Common Entrance Test pleases most students

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court order quashing the State Government order on scrapping the Common Entrance Test for professional course admissions came as a relief to students all over the State.

Though not many students or parents were present on the High Court premises when the order was passed, almost all students The Hindu spoke to described the HC order as a much-needed breather from the tension of the past few weeks.

"This is all we had been praying for. By restoring status quo on admissions for this year, the High Court has done a great favour to the student community. The Government Order seems to have been passed in haste. A public debate should have been called for before such a momentous decision which would affect the lives of thousands of students was announced," said M. Marimuthu, whose daughter M. Akhila was one of those who petitioned the HC in the initial stages.

For S. Anandan from Tindivanam, who scored centums in physics and biology, the High Court order means he can now focus more on preparing for the year ahead.

"Had I focussed less on preparing for the entrance examination and more on my Plus Two exams, I might have ended up scoring more centums. I had wanted to strike a balance and so paid equal attention to both. Had the GO not been quashed, all my calculations would have gone wrong," he said.

For the improvement candidates too, the HC order could not have come at a better time. "It was unfair that after allowing us to sit for the examination, the Government should negate its own permission as many of us wasted considerable time in preparing for the examination," said K. Nilamangai, a student of an Anna Nagar-based school.

However, for those who had not taken the entrance examination but had gone ahead and applied for professional admissions pinning their hopes on the Government order, the ruling was a disappointment. "Only because the HC said sale of application forms could continue till the end of this month, did I submit an application as I had missed taking the CET earlier. My hopes have now been dashed," said P. Prathapan of T. Nagar.

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