Tamil Nadu assembly passes resolution against CUET

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, on Monday, April 11, tabled a resolution in the Legislative Assembly urging the Centre to withdraw the proposal to conduct Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for admission to courses offered by central varsities.

The resolution, which comes days after Stalin denounced the examination and said that the proposed exam was 'regressive' and 'undesirable', has been passed by the assembly.

There is no doubt that this CUET, like NEET, will sideline the diverse school education system across the country, grossly undermine the relevance of overall development-oriented long-form learning in schools and make students rely upon coaching centres for improving their entrance examination scores, it said.

"The Assembly feels that any entrance examination that is based on the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) syllabus will not provide an equal opportunity to all students who have studied in varied state board syllabi across the country," it said.

Opposing the resolution, BJP staged a walkout while the others including the main opposition party, the AIADMK and the ruling DMK's allies--Congress and the Left parties among others, supported the resolution. Speaker M Appavu said the resolution has been adopted unanimously.