In the absence of minimum eligibility criteria for second PU students who want to write the Common Entrance Test (CET) this year, the Higher Education Department is considering introducing cut-off marks for seat allotment.
If approved, the government will allot seats to only those candidates whose marks are above the cut-off.
Although the CET is the gateway to many professional courses, such as veterinary sciences and Pharm.D. among others, the eligibility criteria has been mooted for agriculture and engineering courses, which see the most demand.
“All second year pre-university students have been promoted this year, and there is no minimal eligibility criteria. In previous years, we would allot CET ranks to all the candidates who sat for the test. But doing that now and awarding ranks to everyone will be a challenge,” said a senior official in the Higher Education Department.
The idea was proposed at a meeting recently chaired by Deputy Chief Minister and Higher Education Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan. A majority of Higher Education Department officials batted for cut-offs as criteria. “That way, there will be some form of quality control,” said the official, who attended the meeting.
In the CET format, each of the papers — physics, chemistry, mathematics and biology — carries 60 marks each. Students who want to take up engineering, appear for the physics, chemistry and mathematics papers, for which the maximum marks is 180 marks. In the past, all candidates would be allotted ranks under engineering irrespective of how they scored. If the cut-off system comes into play, they will need to score a minimum mark, for example 60 out of 180. Only then will they be eligible to get an engineering rank and obtain government seats or government quota seats in private engineering colleges through the CET route.
Students unhappy
While professors and lecturers in engineering colleges have hailed the suggestions, students are not happy with this development.
K. Rajinikanth, former principal, M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology (MSRIT) said that on paper it may be a good idea. He, however, pointed out that the cut-off marks should be decided carefully keeping in mind how tough the academic year has been for students.
Amaresh Kadaga, State president, Students Federation of India said, “When there are so many vacant engineering seats in the State every year, there is no need to fix a cut-off mark,” he said.
