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Friday, March 14, 2008
State government justifies the abolition of
CET
- “It will ensure level playing field
for students from rural and urban areas”
New Delhi: The Tamil Nadu government justified the abolition of the Common Entrance
Test (CET) for admission to professional courses in the State
in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday.
Admitting a special leave petition filed by Minor A.S. Prabhu
against the April 27, 2007 judgment of the Madras High Court,
upholding the abolition of the CET from the academic year 2007-2008,
the apex court had sought the State’s response.
As the matter has been listed for final hearing, the State,
through its counsel V.G. Pragasam, filed its reply stating that
it was a policy decision by the government to obviate unnecessary
hardship to students and ensure a level playing field for students
from rural areas and those from urban areas since CET had become
highly expensive and cumbersome for students.
“Traumatic”
It said the CET had turned traumatic for parents and children
as it appeared to determine, at one stroke, the future of the
child. The higher secondary education itself was a serious examination
of merit imposing a heavy burden on students. It was felt that
CET would be an additional burden.
The petitioner had contended that the impugned legislation was
violative of Articles 14 (right to equality) and 21 (right to
life and liberty) of the Constitution as the method of ‘normalisation’
to arrive at the ‘relative marks’ of students in
different streams of study would create more inequality.
Referring to the contention that there was discrimination between
students of the State Board and other boards, the counter said,
“The anomaly has now been set at naught in the new Act
by providing the process of normalisation.” The normalisation
was arrived at by applying a formula approved at a meeting of
an experts committee. The allegations of arbitrariness were
ill-founded.
Case cited
The counter recalled that in the P.A. Inamdar case, the apex
court had held that the selection should be fair, transparent
and non-exploitative. Selection on the basis of marks obtained
in the qualifying examination would satisfy these three tests
for admission.
Keeping in mind the interests and mindset of students that there
would be no CET from 2007-2008, it would be inequitable to make
all such innocent students to again undergo the ordeal of CET,
the State said, seeking dismissal of the SLP.
Courtesy: The Hindu
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