Higher absenteeism, poor choice of colleges cause concern
Candidates with good marks opt for lower rung colleges in TNEA counselling
The delay in the start of single window counselling for engineering in the State has cost the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions committee dearly. Usually counselling begins on July 1 but this year it was pushed to August. This was done to prevent vacancies caused by students migrating to MBBS, BDS for which counselling is usually held late.
Of the 26678 students in the general category invited in the first round,, 17,679 were allotted seats and of the 1,406 students invited under the 7.5% reservation category, , seats were allotted to 1,115 students. However, 8,999 candidates in the general category and 291 government school students either declined the seat or were absent.
This amounts to 33.73% in the general category and 20.70% in the preferential reservation category. Usually,absenteeism in the first round is around 20%, with the number going up in the subsequent rounds.
The father of a Chennai-based candidate, who scored 180 marks as cut-off, had chosen to admit his ward to a deemed university as counselling was delayed. “I was not sure he would be admitted to a good college through counselling,” he said.
Self-supporting courses in demand
Students prefer self-supporting courses although the fee is higher than regular programmes in other disciplines. A study by independent analyst Ashwin Ramaswamy shows that almost all the seats offered for self-supporting courses have been filled in colleges offering them. While in Anna University, a self-supporting course may cost an additional₹10,000, in aided colleges it may go up to ₹30,000 to ₹40,000.
That only four government colleges did well in the first round is a wakeup call, Mr. Ashwin says. “A college that works hard to ensure placement will do well. All the private colleges that have done well in the first round are those with good placement,” he added.
That candidates with high cut-off have chosen poor performing colleges has raised concerns.
Last week, the then Vice-Chancellor of Anna University, R. Velraj, urged students to choose colleges carefully.
“I was surprised to find a student with a cut-off mark of 191 marks opt for a college ranked 100. The MBC category student would have easily got a seat in one of the top 10 colleges in the State. He could have got into one of good branch in Anna University’s departments. After choosing the college he approached us for help. We told him to withdraw from the college and opt to participate in counselling in the second round,” he said.
Mr. Velraj further said at least half a dozen students had come to them with such complaints. “Students should know that when they study in a good college their life will change completely. Parents should make sure that wards choose wisely. They should go to a well-wisher and seek help while filling choices,” he said.
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