As the Class 12 students in Tamil Nadu are eagerly waiting for their final results based on an unprecedented evaluation scale and are busy with selecting the colleges and universities to pursue their higher education, the state minister has now clarified when the colleges can start their admissions. 

On Thursday, Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K Ponmudi has said that the colleges and universities will begin admitting the students from August 1, 2021. The statement from the minister has come after holding a discussion with the vice-chancellors of the universities in the state. 

While addressing the reporters after the meeting, Ponmudi said that every university must adhere to the uniformed admission system. By citing that the universities must observe transparency, the minister stated that the admissions will be held based on Class 12 final marks and the colleges can begin admitting the students from August 1. 

The final results of the students will be declared on July 31st based on the evaluation criteria, recommended by the panel, as the board exams were cancelled in the state in light of the pandemic. Earlier on Monday, Ponmudi had given a warning to the colleges not to conduct the admissions before the declaration of the results. He said, "Colleges must consider the CBSE and state board Class 12 marks to rank the students for giving admissions. These two boards will finalize the marks before July 31. So, the admissions to the government, government-aided colleges, and private colleges will start only after July 31."

He quoted the government's knowledge that some private colleges had begun admissions. The minister stated, "It's brought to our attention that some private colleges had started admissions. The Chief Minister had instructed that college admissions should start only after the declaration of Class 12 results and if any college starts admissions now, the government will take stern action."

The warning has become crucial and his statement has clarified that the colleges will only be commencing the admissions after July 31. Last Saturday, the state government announced the criteria for awarding marks to the Class 12 students. As per the criteria of computing the Class 12 board exam marks, the marks they scored in the Class 10 board exam will carry 50% weightage, the marks they scored in the Class 11 exams will carry 20% of weightage, and the Class 12 internal assessment and practical exam marks will be given the rest 30% weightage. 

The state government has also announced that it would also give an opportunity for the students who are aggrieved with the marks, awarded based on the criteria, to write the exams. The students can better use this opportunity to write exams if they are not happy with the marks being awarded by the evaluation criteria. The government said that it will issue the notification with an appropriate schedule to conduct exams.