7.5% reservation for govt school students in professional courses

Students in govt schools can avail the reservation to get admission into professional courses like engineering, agriculture, veterinary, fisheries, and law

Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday decided to provide a 7.5 per cent reservation in admission to professional courses like engineering, agriculture, and law for students from government schools. The government said the decision was taken since a smaller number of students from schools run by it get into professional courses every year.

The DMK government will introduce legislation to provide 7.5 per cent reservation to government school students in professional courses in the Budget session of the Tamil Nadu Assembly beginning August 13. An official release said the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday accepted the recommendations of Justice D Murugesan Committee which was asked to suggest ways to increase enrollment of government school students in professional courses.

“Accepting the recommendations of the Committee, the Cabinet passed a resolution to bring a legislation in the ensuing Budget session to provide 7.5 per cent reservation in admissions to government school students,” the release said.

The legislation will be modelled on the lines of one brought by the previous AIADMK government to provide 7.5 per cent in admission to medical and dental courses to students from government schools who clear the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). The horizontal reservation has ensured that nearly 300 students from government schools get into medical colleges every year.

Students studying in government schools can avail the reservation to get admission into professional courses like engineering, agriculture, veterinary, fisheries, and law. Sources said the government was trying to get the Bill introduced and passed in the Budget session so that the reservation comes into effect in the current academic year itself.

The AIADMK government decided to provide a reservation after the number of government school students getting into medical colleges witnessed a massive dip in the past few years after the introduction of NEET.