K. Ramachandran and

Vani Doraisamy

CHENNAI: The judicial wrangling over the Common Entrance Test may not have resolved the issue of whether scrapping the CET would benefit rural students, but an analysis of probable medical cut-off marks with respect to the higher secondary board examination shows that the dice is clearly loaded in favour of students from private schools.

The division is not between rural and urban schools, but between exclusive schools, which thrive on heavy and intensive coaching and the rest.

Namakkal with its well-known schools that thrive on specific coaching systems for an elite set of students who are aiming to enter top notch professional colleges, has come on top.

The analysis, done by Salem-based educational analyst, Jayaprakash Gandhi, throws up other interesting facts as well:

Of the 993 medical aspirants who scored 199 out of 200 marks (the cut-off which is most likely to guarantee a medical seat) in 66 educational districts including Pondicherry, 179 students are from Namakkal educational district.

This is besides the 97 `improvement candidates' who studied in Namakkal schools, which are also known as `improvement schools.'

These specialised institutions which are exclusive boarding schools cater to young men and women who come from all parts of the State and even from outside.

Ambitious parents including doctors, engineers and other professionals send their children paying huge sums to these schools with the hope of getting into government medical colleges and Anna University's constituent engineering colleges.

Despite criticism, these schools have a record to show and this year too, the record is intact.

Gobichettypalayam educational district has also done well sending 97 students with 199/200 in the medical branch.

However, not a single student in eight districts — Gudalur, Aranthangi, Ariyalur, Musiri, Lalgudi, Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Karaikkal — may get a medical seat as no one here has secured the required cut-off.

Seventeen districts have only 15 students with the cut-off while 32 districts have 900 such students. The remaining 34 districts, put together, have only 93 who may make it to medical colleges this year.

Chennai's four educational districts have together produced 140 high performers followed by Coimbatore (51 students), Chengalpattu (47 students), Cuddalore (32 students), Krishnagiri (29 students), Tirunelveli and Erode (26 students each), Madurai and Pollachi (22 students each) and Tiruchi (21 students).

Out of the 377 improvement candidates who have scored 199 out of 200 marks, 95 per cent were found to be from private schools, Mr. Gandhi notes.

"So even if only the higher secondary marks are considered for professional admissions, rural students may not benefit at all. The question is few government school students in rural or urban areas are in the reckoning," he feels.

"While a few students from urban areas may have the required cut-off, even among urban centres, there seems to be no common factor," Mr.Gandhi told The Hindu .

A mechanism to carve out a space for rural students, along with a system that tests a students' analytical/reasoning ability — be it entrance test or any other — can alone produce competent professionals, he adds.

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