KOCHI: The State Government is toying with the idea of scrapping the entrance test for admission to engineering colleges and making the plus two marks alone the criterion.
In a discussion with the Kerala Self-Financing Engineering College Management Association (KSFECMA), government representatives responded positively to the demand for scrapping the tests from the 2016 admission onwards, KSFECMA patron G P C Nayar told Deccan Chronicle.
Mr Nayar said the association representatives told Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb and Higher Education Additional Chief Secretary K M Abraham that the number of seats have increased manifold from the time the test was introduced leading to no-takers for a vast majority of seats. “They said the government shall consider our demand,” he said.
“In the case of engineering admission, permission of courts is not needed since there is no court directive, unlike in the medical stream,” Mr Nayar said.
The KSFECMA is of the view that the marks normalisation process consumed a lot of time, delaying admission.
“It takes about two months to complete the process and the staggered allotment process by which time students with relatively lower marks and score migrate to neighbouring states where admission is quite easy,” said T A Vijayan, former secretary of KSFECMA.
“This results in a lot of seats falling vacant here. It would be simpler if the admissions are decided only on plus two marks.”
The Kerala CBSE School Management Association said the move will sound the death-knell for CBSE schools as it will increase the flow of students to state syllabus schools after Class X.
There is already a flow to state syllabus schools ever since Plus Two marks were added to entrance score for engineering admission in 2011.
The development becomes curious as the government, in a bid to ensure admission for State syllabus students into the top engineering colleges and courses, had in 2011 changed the admission procedure and gave 50 per cent weightage for the plus two marks.
This followed the complaints that CBSE students had an unfair advantage in the entrance examination.
