The Higher Education Department has decided to retain the weightage given to Class XII marks in the KEAM entrance examination for admissions to engineering courses.
In a statement on Thursday, Higher Education Minister R. Bindu said the current method of standardisation of Class XII marks for preparing the engineering rank list, as done last year, would continue. The decision was taken in view of the declaration of results of Class XII examinations conducted by the CBSE and ICSE. An order has been issued to the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations (CEE) in this regard.
Following a CEE proposal, the government had toyed with the idea of scrapping the 50% weightage given to Class XII marks this year. However, it was compelled to persist with the existing system amid demands by students and teachers of State board schools. Social aspects such as the inability of meritorious students to enrol for entrance coaching were factored in to arrive at the decision, sources said.
HC directive
The Kerala High Court had restrained the CEE from publishing the results of the entrance examination held on August 5. The government will now inform its decision to the court. The court issued the order on a petition by the Kerala CBSE School Managements Association and two students who sought a directive to provide admission to professional courses solely on the basis of the marks secured by candidates in the entrance examination.
