In a significant legal development, the High Court of Kerala has quashed the revised rank list for the Kerala Engineering, Agriculture and Medical (KEAM) entrance examinations, dealing a major blow to the state government’s recent efforts to mitigate the perceived disadvantage faced by students from the state syllabus due to the standardization of marks.
The verdict comes after the Higher Education Minister, R Bindu, led an eleventh-hour intervention in early June to correct the supposed discrepancy in grading systems between the Kerala State Syllabus and other boards. The government had argued that the standardization of marks was causing a disadvantage to state syllabus students.
Following the High Court’s verdict, the government has indicated its intention to appeal against the ruling before a division bench. In a statement, the Minister stated, “The cabinet will take an appropriate decision on the course of action.”
The revised KEAM rank list was challenged in court by several students and educational institutions, who argued that the intervention by the state government constituted an undue interference with the fairness and transparency of the examination process.
Meanwhile, Indira Rajan, the president of the Kerala Students’ Union (CSSK), has expressed disappointment over the verdict but has urged students to remain calm and wait for further developments in the case. In a press release, she stated, “We are disappointed with the court’s decision, but we respect the judiciary’s ruling. We call upon our fellow students to remain patient and await the outcome of the government’s appeal.”
This legal tussle has attracted attention from educational circles across the country, as it raises important questions about the role of state intervention in examination processes and the fairness of standardization methods used by various boards. As the case moves forward, the eyes of students and educators alike will be on Kerala to see how this complex issue unfolds.
