10 March 2007
President Okays CET Bill
The Bill to abolish Common Entrance Test (CET) for professional courses in Tamil Nadu has got the assent of President APJ Abdul Kalam and is expected to provide a level playing field for students from rural areas and poor families and those from urban areas.
Disclosing this at the State-level press conference held at the Secretariat, Chief Secretary Mr.LK Tripathy said, “As the Bill has got the nod of the President, it has become a law”.
The State Assembly on Dec.6 adopted the Bill last year. At that time, Higher Education Minister Mr.K Ponmudi said the CET was a traumatic experience for students and their parents. Besides, students from rural areas had no access to CET coaching classes.He said the higher secondary examination itself was a serious examination of merit, imposing a heavy burden on students and hence there was no need for any separate CET which would be an additional burden.