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Abolition of CET fulfils expectations

M. Anandakrishnan

The decision of the Tamil Nadu Government to abolish the Common Entrance Test (CET) this year has been upheld by the Madras High Court. The Supreme Court has declined to stay this judgment. However, the controversies surrounding the CET will persist for some time to come.

In Tamil Nadu, it is well known that thousands of students appear for an average of 10 entrance examinations spending considerable sums of money merely for applying for them, besides huge sums on coaching classes. Many students who are not confident enough about their proficiency in the national-level tests appear for the State-level CET as well as for the entrance tests conducted individually by the mushrooming deemed universities. Even after all this, the students are not sure of where their admissions will materialise and what amounts of money will be required by way of regular and capitation fees. Unfortunately, the entrance tests have become a sad gamble.

Many students in Tamil Nadu who are desirous of going for higher studies either do not have the means to attend coaching classes or are not confident of getting through. They, therefore, do not bother to appear for any kind of entrance tests, even though their performance in the higher secondary examination will be of high order. They seek their chances in institutions and courses that do not demand appearance in CETs.

The demand for abolition of the CET in Tamil Nadu has been growing from many sections of the society. The Government of Tamil Nadu responded by abolishing the CET for admission to professional courses for the year 2005-06. This order was, however, struck down by the High Court of Madras for lack of concurrence of the Central regulatory authorities. Thereafter the State Government enacted the Tamil Nadu Regulation of Admission in Professional Courses Act 2006 whereby the CET was abolished for students clearing the State Board Examination only. The students of other Boards were required to write the CET for admission to professional courses. This Act was also struck down by the High Court of Madras as discriminatory. After the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Government came to power, a committee of experts was constituted to recommend suitable measures for abolition of the CET from the academic year 2007-08.

The Committee obtained public opinion relating to abolition of the CET. It analysed the performance of students with different socio-economic background in the higher secondary examination as well as the CET during the past five years. It took into account the implications of the relevant judicial pronouncements and the regulations of the statutory bodies concerned. The Government of Tamil Nadu accepted the recommendations of the Committee and took the necessary legislative and operational measures for abolishing the CET.

The majority opinion was in favour of abolishing the CET. The dominant perception was that students coming from rural areas and Tamil medium generally obtained low scores in the CET though their performance in the higher secondary was very good. Those who had opposed the abolition felt the CET helped to identify the really meritorious students.

On the whole, the CETs have tended to downgrade the serious study of prescribed subjects in the higher secondary classes. Except for a small percentage of students who are serious learners, the vast majority does not have a grasp of the fundamentals of their high school subjects. The abolition of the CET in Tamil Nadu this year has provided additional time and energy for the students to concentrate on their higher secondary subjects and has raised the hopes of thousands of students, who would otherwise have stayed away, of joining professional courses.

This is amply illustrated by the higher rate of pass in Tamil Nadu and the larger number of students obtaining higher marks in the subjects. The overall pass percentage in the higher secondary examination in Tamil Nadu significantly increased from 74.5 per cent in 2006 to 80.92 per cent in 2007. The pass rate which was 83.30 per cent in 2001 was steadily declining reaching 74.51 per cent in 2006 but rose again to 80.92 per cent in 2007. Similarly the pass rate in individual subject this year showed remarkable increase compared to 2006. There has been a significant increase in the pass rate by 3.9 per cent in mathematics, 8.25 per cent in physics and Chemistry, 4.77 per cent in biology, 21 per cent in Botany and Zoology.

In general, some districts such as Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin, Coimbatore, and Erode showed consistently high pass rates ranging from 85 to 88 per cent during the past five years. In these districts, the pass percentage further increased by 3 to 7 per cent compared to 2006. Similarly some districts such as Vellore, Krishnagiri, Tiruvannamalai, Dharmapuri, and Cuddalore used to consistently show low percentage of pass during the past five years. In their case there has been significant improvement in their performance by 7 to 14 per cent. In other districts such as Sivagangai, Udhagamandalam, and Perambalur the increase in pass percentage in the higher secondary examination 2007 ranges from 18 to 28 per cent.

In general, the number of students appearing for the higher secondary examination in the Tamil medium is more than twice the number in the English medium. In rural areas, the number of students in the Tamil medium is nearly five times that in the English medium. However, the CET is largely dominated by English medium students. The number of students appearing for the CET from the English medium is three to four times the number of students from the Tamil medium. The students from the Tamil medium are largely from rural areas. They do not even have the necessary confidence to appear for the CET.

There has been a sharp improvement in the performance of Tamil medium students in the higher secondary examination of 2007 compared to the previous year. The overall pass percentage of Tamil medium students increased from 69 per cent in 2006 to 78 per cent in 2007. Even the English medium students showed a slight improvement in their overall performance from 85.5 per cent in 2006 to 88 per cent in 2007.

For comparing the benefits accruing out of abolishing the CET, between Tamil medium and English medium students, the range of marks from 171-200 obtained in mathematics, physics, and chemistry (MPC) put together is taken as the basis, as adopted for engineering admissions. It is seen that the number of students in this marks range during 2006 was 4,900 from the Tamil medium and 19,194 from the English medium. In 2007, the number of students in this marks range in the Tamil medium was 8,832 and 23,670 in the English medium, indicating a jump of 80 per cent students in the Tamil medium and 23 per cent in the English medium. This differential is seen to be even sharper in the marks range of 191-200. In 2006, there were 373 Tamil medium students and 4,268 English medium students in this marks range. In 2007, there were 1,095 students from the Tamil medium and 6,186 students from the English medium, showing an increase of 193 per cent from the Tamil medium and 45 per cent from the English medium.

Similarly, the range of marks from 171 to 200 obtained in biology, physics, and chemistry (BPC) put together is taken as the basis for comparing Tamil and English medium students, as adopted for medical admissions. It is seen that the number of students in this marks range during 2006 was 3,014 from the Tamil medium and 11,742 from the English medium. In 2007, the number of students in this marks range from the Tamil medium was 5,221 and 11,712 from the English medium, indicating a jump of 73 per cent in the Tamil medium and a negligible drop from the English medium. This differential is seen to be even sharper in the marks range of 191-200. In 2006, there were 179 Tamil medium students and 1,961 from the English medium students in this mark range. In 2007, there were 418 from the Tamil medium and 2,419 from the English medium, showing an increase of 133 per cent from the Tamil medium and 23 per cent from the English medium.

The judgment of the Madras High Court on the CET predominantly dealt with the issues relating to the constitutional validity of the Act passed by Tamil Nadu Legislature for its abolition. The arguments related to the entries in List I and List II of the Constitution. Leaving aside the legal issues for the moment, the significant aspect to be noticed is that because the CET was abolished, the students had considerable extra time resulting in a significantly high performance both in the pass percentage as well as in the subject scores. It is also evident that thousands of students who could not have aspired to professional courses because of their fear of the CET are now coming forward in large numbers. More significantly, the abolition of the CET has saved thousands of students from undue mental agony and unnecessary expenses caused by the uncertainty of available options for higher studies.

(The author, who is presently the Chairman of the Madras Institute of Development Studies as well as the IIT Kanpur, was the Chairman of the Expert Committee on the Abolition of the CET.)

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