Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Corporate colleges project `achievements' of students

By M. Rajeev

VIJAYAWADA, MAY 7. Even as a possible change in the admission pattern of the Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (BITS), Pilani, one of the premier institutions of the country, is in the offing, several corporate colleges set up in important cities in the State are vying with one another to attract students by projecting the "achievements of their students'' in the Intermediate first year examination.

The Government's move to dispense with the ranking system in all examinations notwithstanding, the corporate colleges are "technically mentioning the positions'' of their students in the State list. Going by these positions, they are volunteering even to claim the ranks. Efforts of the corporate colleges working overtime in projecting their achievements only reflects the intensity of competition prevailing. The performance of students at the Intermediate level would not account for at all when it comes to appearing for the EAMCET and IIT entrance examinations where the merit of the candidates will be put to a test.

However, the colleges had no qualms in claiming that a majority of students from their respective institutions secured marks which placed them among the "top 10'' in the State. "When the admission schedule is set to commence in a few days, the colleges naturally adopt such marketing strategies to attract students,'' Lavu Rathaiah, Director of the Vignan Group, a noted corporate institution, told The Hindu on Friday.

According to experts, the rationale behind projecting the "achievements'' of students by the respective colleges is only to create confidence among parents that the students would secure a seat in BITS, Pilani, in which Intermediate marks are the criterion for admission. "But the situation is not going to be the same from this year as the BITS authorities, bowing to pressure from the North Indian lobby over the excessive admission of South Indian students -- particularly from a set of select institutions in Andhra Pradesh, decided to conduct admission based only on the performance in the second year examination,'' said Dr. Rathaiah.

BITS, in principle, took a decision to this effect as the examination pattern in the State provided for a betterment examination in the first year, while there was no such option for the second year. However, the Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh State Council for higher Education (APSCHE), C. Subba Rao, told The Hindu that the council is yet to ascertain from the BITS, Pilani, if it is going to conduct an entrance examination or consider the II year marks for the admission of students.

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