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The great entrance test debate

V. Jayanth

The Tamil Nadu Government's decision to scrap the Common Entrance Test for professional courses has created divisions.

THE TAMIL Nadu Government's decision to scrap the Common Entrance Test (CET) for admission to professional courses has sparked a lively debate. Political circles and a section of academicians have welcomed it as a decisive tilt in favour of the rural student community. But academics involved in syllabi upgradation and higher education appear sceptical; they are worried about the impact of doing away with a CET. Unfortunately, the actual report of the Anandakrishnan Committee has not been released. Officials say it will be tabled in the State Assembly during the winter session, when the Government is also expected to come up with a Bill to scrap the CET.

The previous All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Government had attempted to scrap the CET and admit students to professional courses on the basis of their Plus Two marks. But when this was challenged in court and the deadline for a decision on the schedule of CET-2006 drew near, the status quo was maintained.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Government, which assumed power in May this year, committed itself to abolishing the CET.

It set up a panel of experts headed by the former Anna University Vice-Chancellor, M. Anandakrishnan, to find out how the test could be abolished. The rationale was simple — the CET put the rural students at a disadvantage, and also gave the urban students an edge because of the private coaching centres and facilities that abounded in cities and towns. Most constituents of the Democratic Progressive Alliance were in favour of admitting students only on the basis of their Plus Two marks and dubbed the CET a handicap for rural students.

No sooner than the panel submitted its report, the State Government announced it had recommended abolition of the CET, and that a Bill would be introduced in the December session of the Assembly to give effect to the recommendation. Political parties, in addition to parents and students from the rural areas, have widely welcomed the move. But will this decision stand legal scrutiny? Sources who have scanned the report say it is "very balanced and comprehensive." While recommending the abolition of the CET, the committee is supposed to have suggested both legal and practical measures to implement it. A system of "naturalisation" of marks for students from various streams such as State Board, Central Board, Matriculation, and the rest, is stated to be a part of the report.

On the face of it, admission to professional courses on the basis of Plus Two marks may be a shot in the arm for rural students. But it remains to be seen if it will help them in the long run. A Dean of a medical college in Chennai says some of the top rankers from the "high performance" residential schools, who walk into the city's medical colleges, fail in their first year/semester examinations. This is attributed in part to the style of study — by rote. It may help students secure top marks in school, but does not help in professional courses.

CET helps in ranking

But the main reason academics and those associated with the annual admissions process to both medical and engineering seats favour a CET is the ranking system it facilitates. "You have hundreds of students scoring 100 per cent in the three major subjects that count for admissions. All of them should be of the same rank if admissions are based only on Plus Two marks. How can we allot them seats, if they are limited, and also the choice of colleges?

"The problem gets compounded in medicine because the seats are very limited. With CET, there may be at least a 0.1 percentage point difference between two students, and that makes the process easy. How will students react if admissions have to be on draw of lots for a few hundred each year?" wonders a former education administrator.

Those advocating a CET are convinced it separates the "grain from the chaff." Though in Tamil Nadu it is based on the State Board syllabus, it acts as a test of the students' ability, speed, and comprehension. As it accounts for only a third of the total marks for admission, it should not be a serious disadvantage, they say.

They contend that doing away with CET will dampen the prospects of students who want to sit for the IIT-JEE or other all-India entrance tests. The State's CET had been a testing ground for them.

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