The Hindu : Front Page : Self-financing colleges to be barred from holding entrance

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Wednesday, Sep 20, 2006
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Self-financing colleges to be barred from holding entrance

Special Correspondent

Opposition walks out of Assembly over admission chaos

M.A. Baby says students who scored high ranks will certainly get seats.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Education Minister M.A. Baby has said that private self-financing professional colleges will be barred from holding their own entrance examinations for admitting students to various courses.

Responding to an adjournment motion sought to be moved by K.C. Venugopal (Congress) and others in the Assembly on Tuesday, the Education Minister said the Cabinet would take the necessary decisions in this regard.

His statement came in response to the Opposition query as to what the Government proposed to do about P.A. Mohammed Committee report on entrance examinations conducted by the consortium of private self-financing professional colleges.

The Government, he said, could do only little about the examination held earlier this year because the managements had granted admission to several students on the basis of the entrance examination results and classes commenced in these institutions. Any tinkering with the admission procedure at this stage would trigger social, financial and psychological complexities. The Government had desisted from initiating any action on the basis of the report only on account of this, he explained.

The Opposition members were hardly satisfied by the Minister's explanation regarding the current state of affairs in the professional education scene and staged a walkout from the House accusing the Government of having thrown the professional education scene into total chaos.

`Take the blame'

The Government must take the entire blame for the persisting uncertainties in the professional education scene, Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy said before leading his colleagues out of the House.

Coming down heavily on the Government, Mr. Chandy said the current situation was entirely the making of the Government. The Government, he said, must clarify which law would apply to admissions this year, the 2004 law or the 2006 law. It should also state whether it proposed to enforce Government fees in self-financing colleges under its control, Mr. Chandy said.

Earlier, seeking leave for the motion, Mr. Venugopal said parents and students alike were confused and worried about the happenings on the professional education front following repeated changes in the deadline for submitting options, fee structure and admission norms. Mr. Baby assured the member that students who had secured high ranks in the entrance test conducted by the managements would certainly get seats in the colleges of their choice. He, however, expressed helplessness with regard to enforcement of Government fees in self-financing professional colleges.

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