CHENNAI: While school toppers in the medicine stream are concentrated in Namakkal, toppers aspiring for engineering seats are spread evenly across the State.

An analysis of students who got more than 198/200 in the Plus-Two mathematics and physical sciences (engineering) group subjects reveals that the divide among students is again between the haves and have-nots in access to quality education.

For engineering admissions, the marks in mathematics is reduced to a base of 100 and the combined marks in physics and chemistry too are reduced similarly to a base of 100. The present analysis takes only the higher secondary marks (for a base of 200) and does not include the TNPCEE scores.

Tamil Nadu has 66 education districts, including the big four in Chennai metropolitan area. Twentythree of these districts (which comprise major towns and cities), account for 2,342 of the 2,927 students who have secured a total score of 198/200 or more (combined in mathematics, physics and chemistry) in Standard XII.

But in 21 education districts put together, there are only 112 students getting 198 or more in the Plus-Two examinations. The districts including Thuckalay, Paramakudi, Ramanathapuram, Uthamapalayam, Usilampatti, Palani, Coonoor, Aranthangi, Pudukottai and Ariyalur have less than 10 students each in this score band.

Individually, Namakkal may account for 393 students. Tirunelveli, Tuticorin, Tiruchi, Nagercoil, Virudhunagar, Madurai, Coimbatore, Salem, Gobichettipalayam, Krishnagiri, Cuddalore and Chengalpattu have all done well sending over 50 students each into this top-scoring league.

But Chennai metropolis has as many as 460 students with a score of over 198/200 in the engineering group.

Educational analyst Jayaprakash Gandhi of Salem, who has studied the scoring patterns for the past few years, says all the major towns in Tamil Nadu have performed well this year.

"In all, 3,351 students have scored 198/200 but of them 424 are improvement candidates who have been allowed by the court to get into professional education this year. It is a moot point whether such a number would obtain next year, when there will be no improvement candidates," he notes.

The analysis of marks shows that the famed Namakkal schools, whose students come from among the elite families in Tamil Nadu, perform better in the life sciences (medicine group) compared to the engineering stream, he adds.

Academics argue that engineering is more about concepts and application of basic concepts in mathematics and physics to solve problems of everyday. Students cannot depend on merely memorising facts in the life sciences book. That is why even in the Tamil Nadu Professional Courses Entrance Examinations the rankers are not concentrated in one area but spread across the State, wherever good teaching infrastructure is available.

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