How entrance examinations for professional courses made an entry into Tamil Nadu

Debate on NEET in Tamil Nadu Assembly, history of TNPCEE, and the impact of entrance exams on medical admissions.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly, at its latest sitting a fortnight ago, saw a lively debate on the issue of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to medical courses, the abolition of which was promised by the ruling DMK in the run-up to the 2021 Assembly election.

A few days later came the launch of a publication authored by veteran civil servant T. Pitchandi, who has devoted a separate chapter to the genesis of the Tamil Nadu Professional Courses Entrance Examination (TNPCEE), which could be called the State’s variant of NEET and which was in vogue between 1984 and 2006.

Mr. Pitchandi worked at the Chief Minister’s Office for nearly nine years (1978-87) when M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) was at the helm. In his memoir, Enakkul Manakkum MGR Ninaivugal, he traces the idea of TNPCEE to the discussion that MGR had with Anna University Vice-Chancellor V.C. Kulandaiswamy in 1982. The Chief Minister, who had the image of a compassionate administrator, advised the educationist to ensure that candidates from rural areas seeking admission to engineering courses were treated leniently at pre-admission interviews.

When Ramachandran came across complaints about interviewers being partial, he asked Mr. Pitchandi to study the matter and give him a report. To his dismay, the civil servant found substance in the complaints. In his book, he explains how a student from the fishing community of Kanniyakumari district was badly treated by interviewers. Despite the candidate scoring 95% in the qualifying examination, he could not gain admission because of his low marks in the interview. The author, who prepared his report after listening to tapes that had contained the recordings of the interviews, contrasts the case of the Kanniyakumari student with that of a Chennai student who was treated leniently by the interviewers and admitted to the engineering course. Mr. Pitchandi attributes the spurt in the demand for the professional courses in the early 1980s to the MGR government’s decision to adopt the 10+2 schooling system in 1978 in place of Pre-University Course (PUC).

At the same time, a perusal of materials in The Hindu Archives reveals that the idea of entrance examination was under contemplation since the late 1960s. V. R. Nedunchezhian, the Minister for Education and Industries in the first DMK Cabinet led by C.N. Annadurai, at an interaction with journalists in Madurai during June 1968, acknowledged that a section of educationists had made the suggestion but clarified that the government had no proposal to introduce a common entrance test. Even in the 1970s, Christian Medical College, Vellore, and Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, admitted students on the basis of their performance in entrance examinations. Mr. Pitchandi, who belonged to the 1981 batch of the IAS, recounts how MGR had discussed with Education Minister C. Aranganayagam, Kulandaiswamy, and senior officials the pitfalls in the old system of admission on the basis of performance in the qualifying examination and in the interview. When an entrance test was suggested, MGR responded that it would benefit only urban students. Some officials pointed to the grievance of students of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) that they could not get admission on account of lower marks in the qualifying examination owing to higher standards of education. They sought a process of normalisation. Eventually, it was left to Kulandaiswamy to come up with the proposal under which a candidate’s performance in the mathematics or biology, physics and chemistry papers of the qualifying examination (+2 course) would be proportionately restricted to a maximum of 200 marks. This, together with the candidate’s showing in the entrance test (which would be up to 100 marks), would be considered for eligibility. MGR, according to the civil servant, advised that 10% of the questions in the common test be set aside for gauging the general knowledge of the candidates. He also emphasised that the interests of students from villages should be safeguarded.

The Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) had moved the Madras High Court with a writ petition against the introduction of TNPCEE. A few days before the examination was held, the court dismissed the petition and gave its approval. “The entrance test system will undoubtedly prove more advantageous to the student community than the interview system”, Justice S. Natarajan said, The Hindu reported on July 11, 1984.

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, in June 2005, announced that TNPCEE would be abolished, amid the growing demand to this effect. But, owing to judicial intervention, TNPCEE was in force till 2006-07. The DMK government (2006-11) brought in a law to repeal the entrance test and since 2007-08, admission is being made on the basis of performance of students in the qualifying higher secondary examination. Only in respect of medical and dental courses, it underwent a change in 2017, with the introduction of NEET.