TN govt school students availing 7.5% quota surge by 14%
The increase could be attributed to the measures taken by the Directorate of Technical Education (DOTE) to simplify the process of availing the quota through technology besides creating awareness among the students.
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CHENNAI: The number of government school students availing of 7.5 per cent horizontal reservation in engineering admissions in Tamil Nadu has increased by more than 14 per cent this year.
The increase could be attributed to the measures taken by the Directorate of Technical Education (DOTE) to simplify the process of availing the quota through technology besides creating awareness among the students.
Admission to undergraduate professional courses for the students of government schools on a preferential basis was initiated to give equal preference to the students studying in government schools and private schools.
As part of this scheme, the entire fee comprising tuition fee, hostel fee, and transportation fee will be borne by the state government for these students admitted under a 7.5% horizontal quota.
A senior official from the DOTE told DT Next that the number of eligible government students seeking engineering seats in the academic merit list has surged to 31,788 in 2024 - 25, which is an increase of 14 per cent. The merit list of the previous 2023-2024 year had a total of 27,866 students.
Stating that an additional 3,922 government school students have applied under the 7.5 per cent quota this year, the official claimed that next year it is expected to increase by another 10 per cent.
Pointing out that the government spent Rs 185.59 crore in 2023-2024 for the state-run school students, he said this year it will cross Rs 200 crore. Observing that there were complaints about several formalities and difficulties especially in getting multiple TCs, in case of students having studied in various government schools from Class VI to Class XII, when the scheme was introduced in 2021.
“However, now the students could get single TCs to avail the horizontal reservation as the database was centralised,” he said.
The senior official also pointed out that awareness has also been created especially among the students from far flung rural areas with regard to the 7.5% horizontal reservation.