TN government to bear tuition fees of students getting admission into professional courses under 7.5% quota

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday announced that his government will bear the tuition and hostel fee for government school students who get into engineering colleges through the 7.5 per cent quota.

The Assembly had last month passed a bill to provide 7.5 per cent reservation in admission to professional courses like engineering, agriculture, and law for students from government schools. The move come a year after the then AIADMK dispensation brought in legislation to provide 7.5 per cent quota for government school students who have cleared NEET in admission to medical and dental colleges.

Stalin made the announcement at an event held at Anna University, the premier engineering institute in the state, to hand over admission orders to students under the new quota.

“I would like to make an announcement that would make both the students who get admission under the 7.5 per cent quota and their parents happy. The announcement is the government will bear the tuition and hostel fee of students who get admission into professional courses under the quota. We will even waive the counselling fee,” Stalin said.

Also Read | Tamil Nadu passes Bill to provide 7.5% reservation for govt school students in professional courses

The Chief Minister said he is making the announcement after listening to views expressed by students in a media interview about their worry about completing the course. “I saw the interview while getting ready for this event. I came here only after listening to their demands,” Stalin added.

10,000 students who will get admission to engineering colleges and another 350 into law, fisheries, veterinary, and agriculture courses will be benefitted from the government’s move, Stalin said.

The government decided to bring in a quota for government school students after it was found that the number of such students getting into engineering, veterinary, agriculture and law courses was “very low.”

According to statistics released by the government, of the 8.5 lakh students who passed out of plus-two in 2019-2020, 3.45 lakh are from government schools. Of the students who joined the prestigious Anna University in various engineering streams in 2020-2021 academic year, only 0.83 percent were from government schools.

The percentage of students from government schools who got admission in government engineering colleges is 6.31, while it is just 0.44 percent in government-aided colleges. Only 3 percent of those who joined veterinary courses are from government schools, and the percentage for agriculture courses is 4.89, the statistics say.

The legislation was drafted after considering the recommendations of the Justice D Murugesan Committee which suggested that reservations up to 10 percent can be accorded to students from government colleges. The committee’s mandate was to suggest ways to increase enrollment of government school students in professional courses.

The Commission, according to the legislation, reported that Government school students being in a disadvantageous position, require more facilities to pursue their school education and “preferential treatment” in joining various professional courses.

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