CHENNAI: With the performance of CBSE students from Tamil Nadu being below par in mathematics, their only hope of pursuing engineering courses lies in the Joint Entrance Examinations (JEE Advanced) on Sunday.
Though the CBSE promised remedial action before evaluation of a ‘tough’ maths paper, which left thousands of CBSE students in tears, many students from the State managed to clear the exam by scoring just above 33 (minimum required to pass).
On the other hand, their counterparts from the Tamil Nadu State Board (uniform syllabus of Samacheer) have fared well in mathematics with more than 3,300 students scoring centums in the subject.
Since mathematics score plays a pivotal role in calculation of engineering cut-off score (cut-off score = maths/2 + physics/4 + chemistry/4), the State Board students from Tamil Nadu might have an edge over CBSE students this year during engineering admissions.
As a result, an above-average score in the JEE (Advanced) has become a prerequisite for CBSE students here. The JEE is a gateway for students across India to get admitted in IITs, NITs and other government-run institutions. Students who have cleared the JEE (Main) appear for JEE (Advanced) scheduled for Sunday.
Though CBSE students in other States have an advantage over students from other boards of studies, in Tamil Nadu the admission scenario has always been different where the State Board students have dominated admissions in much-sought-after colleges.
It was not just maths; there has been an decrease in overall pass percentage of CBSE students in TN from 97.32 % in 2015 to 96.73 % this year, according to the official results released by the Board’s Regional Office here on Saturday.
“The only advantage was that the results were published earlier, compared to the previous years,” said T Ashok Shankar, secretary of the TN CBSE Schools Management Association. In TN, since State Board results are published two to three weeks ahead of the CBSE results, admissions in premier arts and science colleges closes by the time the latter apply.
Given the tough competition for admission in the Central institutions among the existing CBSE schools, many private matriculation schools in the State are converting into CBSE schools as a result of strict fee regulation norms made applicable for them.