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| Saturday, Jul 22, 2006
Toppers discard plum seats at will
It causes heartburn for students denied such seats
Chennai: Does being an academic topper give you the right to choose and discard at will plum seats in the State's topmost professional institutions?
If what happened at the general counselling for engineering undergraduate admissions at the Anna University on Friday is any indication, then it is about time the Government frowns upon toppers--who have been given allotments through counselling--opting out later just because a better prospect beckoned, academicians say.
Of the top ten candidates who were given allotment letters by Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudi, many had chosen the prestigious College of Engineering, Guindy, even while they had already made up their minds to join either one of the IITs or the National Institute of Technology or a medical course. Thus, the much-competed CEG seats will slip into the lapsed category when the students don't actually join the courses when counselling ends and other deserving candidates are denied a chance at the seats. Unlike private institutions, the varsity cannot fill up vacant seats on its own.
One of this year's toppers, who was allotted an Electronics and Communications seat at the varsity has also been allotted an Electrical and Electronics Engineering course at NIT and is likely to choose the latter. Yet another topper from Vellore, who also got a CEG seat, has also been allotted seats by the IIT, Roorkee; the Pune Armed Forces Medical College and Stanley Medical College, Chennai and said his choice lay with the IIT. Another student who was allotted a Computer Science seat in the CEG will eventually be joining the Madras Medical College.
"I came [for counselling] only because the varsity sent me a call letter. My actual choice is an Electronics and Communication course at the NIT," another topper said.
While Mr. Ponmudi said this could not be helped as the law allowed students to exercise a choice, Director of Technical Education, S.K. Prabakar said the vacant seats would remain that way for a whole year until they would be filled up by diploma-holders through lateral entry the next year.
"When my son, who is a school topper, is likely to be denied a CEG seat, it causes much heartburn that some students should actually discard it," a parent said.
Courtesy: The Hindu
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