DUE TO the considerable fall in number of centums and general performance in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology in the Plus Two examination results this year, the cut off marks for admission to Engineering and Medical colleges is expected to be lower than last year's.

Speaking at `The Hindu Education Plus Career Fair 2006' organised in Chennai on Saturday and Sunday, Salem-based educational analyst Jayaprakash Gandhi, presented the findings of an exclusive analysis done for The Hindu.

In the Pre-counselling Guidance programme for Engineering and Medical courses, he noted that there was a significant decrease in the number of students who had an average of over 60 per cent in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. In 2005, 1,32,448 students secured above 60 percent aggregate.

This year only 1,14,093 candidates secured a 60 per cent plus average in the three subjects.

Similarly, the number of students who obtained an average greater than 60 per cent in Physics, Chemistry and Biology (considered for medical admission) has also come down from 1,50,680 in 2005 to 1,37,184 this year. The decrease in number holds good for a 55 per cent average in Physics, Chemistry and Biology (considered for engineering admission).

He said, CBSE students were on par with their State Board counterparts and the admission scene looked equally promising for both. Elaborating on performance of various educational districts in the State, he said Chennai and Namakkal had fared exceedingly well.

Presentation

P.V. Navaneethakrishnan, former director of entrance examinations, Anna University, and senior consultant at AIMS Education made a comprehensive presentation on engineering admissions. He listed the various government, self-financed colleges and deemed universities that students could consider.

Prof. Navaneethakrishnan urged students to choose an institution after considering factors such as infrastructure, labs, hostel facilities, sports, credibility of management, student-teacher ratio, placement record, alumni opinion, accreditation status, semester examination results and ranking, industry-institution interaction and facilities for physically challenged candidates.

Paramedical sciences

Dr. C. Ramachandran, former Secretary, Medical Admissions, who made a presentation on avenues in the field of health and medicine, said besides MBBS and dentistry, other courses in paramedical sciences were also picking up very fast.

He suggested that students consider options such as pharmaceuticals, nursing, physiotherapy and other branches in rehabilitative medicine, which had a very bright future not only in India, but abroad as well.

Ayurveda and Homeopathy

Alternative medicine, including streams such as Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Unani and Siddha, was also growing in a big way.

Their entry into the tourism industry provided several opportunities, he said.

A presentation on the `IT edge', a general counselling session by University of Madras, an employability seminar and a session on off-beat career options were highlights of the two-day fair.

Biggest challenge

Earlier, inaugurating the fair, University of Madras Vice-Chancellor, S.P. Thyagarajan, said the biggest challenge confronting higher education planners was how to enhance the employability of educated youth.

The role of higher education institutions had changed from merely awarding degrees and diplomas to equipping students with skill-building abilities, he said.

Educational loans

Assuring that Indian Bank would ensure that no deserving poor student is deprived of higher education due to lack of funds, the bank's Chairman and Managing Director, K.C. Chakraborty, said public sector banks in the country had given over two lakh educational loans last year alone.

The principles and process of admission to professional education courses had to be made transparent and the government should come up with a clear regulatory framework to end the collection of capitation fee and donations by self-financing engineering colleges, N. Ram, editor-in-chief, The Hindu, said.

Educational services

The Common Entrance Test had to become a standardised process of admissioOver 75 stalls formed part of the fair, offering a range of educational services such as testing, counselling, psychometric profiling and loans.

Career Fair 2006 was organised in association with the University of Madras and was presented by Indian Bank.

Individual sessions were sponsored by NIIT, AIMS Education, Airtel, Ma Foi Academy and Do-IT.

While Sri Krishna Sweets was in charge of the food court, the gifts were sponsored by ITC Classmate and Kesar, and SABOLS was the water partner.

Psychometric analysis of students was done by Bodhi and general counselling by the University of Madras.

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