CHENNAI: GM Mukesh Kanna, a student from Coimbatore who emerged as Tamil Nadu’s topper in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test, came a distant 260th in the All India Ranking, pointing to the fact that confusion over the entrance exam until last minute had put students from the State at a disadvantage.
As the results of the entrance test, which is now mandated for any student aspiring to join medical studies, was announced on Friday, not surprisingly none from Tamil Nadu figured in the top 25 national toppers announced by the Central Board of Secondary Education.
The toppers in the State were also either students of CBSE schools, like the state’s second topper K Adithya Pranav (AIR 351), or those who dedicated a year in private coaching centres, like Mukesh Kanna.
The State government was until the last minute hoping to get exemption from NEET for Tamil Nadu students through legal means.
However, with the Central government still not giving its nod for the State government’s ordinance (which exempts TN from NEET) the students finally took little time to make the preparations for the entrance exam that is mostly based on the CBSE syllabus.
After hours of discussions over the next course of action on Friday, senior government officials hinted that a special reservation for students of the State board would be created by enacting a law, if the Central government continues to deny assent for the bills.
“We can’t justify 98 per cent of the seats going to CBSE students… We are ready to face any legal challenge for this,” said a senior official privy to the discussions. The general fear is that students of the CBSE could have scored better in the NEET and very little students of the State board would be able to make it to medical studies.