Move to Overhaul Professional Course Admission in Kerala

“Government cannot scrap the current system altogether”

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Government proposes to overhaul the present system of admission to professional course scientifically, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M.Vijayakumar told the Assembly on Tuesday.

Responding to the calling attention motion by A.P. Anil Kumar (Congress), the Minister said the Government had already constituted a committee headed by the Higher Education Secretary to go into the issue, The Government would initiates action in the matter on receipt of the committee’s report, he added. Mr. Vijayakumar pointed out that the State had gone in for the single window admission system following detection of serious irregularities in the qualifying examinations way back in 1980 and the growing popularity of courses conducted by different boards which gave marks to their students based on divergent criteria. Till 1999, the State had a common entrance test for both medicine and engineering courses. Beginning 2000, the State had been having separate examinations for the two courses. He said the difficulties arising from the present entrance examination system and the pro-rich bias that it had brought about in the professional education system. However, it was not in a position to scrap the system altogether, as both the All India Council for Technical Education and the Medical Council of India had made it mandatory for all the Medical Council for all the States to conduct entrance examinations for admissions to medicine, engineering courses.

Pro-rich bias

Earlier, Mr. Anil Kumar pointed out that the present system of admission was titled in favour of the rich who alone could afford entrance coaching

Professional Course Admission in Kerala