GCET toppers ‘engineer’ exit out of Goa

Gauree.Malkarnekar
Panaji: Taleigao-lad Deepak Gopalan is the subject topper in both physics and chemistry at the Goa Common Entrance Test (GCET) in 2016 with identical scores of 70 each out of 75. His classmate at Panaji’s Mushtifund Aryaan Higher Secondary School, Aditya Kuncolienkar, has the top score in mathematics of 65 out of 75 this year. Both their physics-chemistry-mathematics (PCM) scores are the best in Goa at 198 and 197, respectively, making them the top contenders for an engineering seat in the state.
Neither Gopalan nor Kuncolienkar want to join an engineering college in Goa. Gopalan is preparing for this IIT JEE (Advance) after clearing IIT JEE (Main), Kuncolienkar is readying himself to answer the BITSAT. They are not the only ones. During the last decade, none of the GCET toppers have joined an engineering institute in the state, but have either opted for an IIT or a BITS campus.
For these IIT and BITS aspirants, cracking the GCET is not a challenge, but often only a practice test or a safety net when answering their national competitive tests.
Gopalan is aiming for a mechanical or electrical engineering seat at IIT Bombay and Kuncolienkar is aspiring for a career in automobile designing after completing his degree from a BITS campus.
Director of Mushtifund Aryaan Higher Secondary School, Vynkatesh Prabhudesai, has produced all GCET toppers over the last decade in Goa. Asked why Goa’s engineering colleges do not appeal to toppers, despite the subsidized education a GCET PCM topper can opt for at Goa Engineering College, Prabhudesai said, “Top scorers everywhere will prefer joining an IIT or BITS campus as these are autonomous institutes, their syllabus is altered every two years or so, unlike state universities across the country. This gives students updated knowledge of the practices in the industry itself.”
Over the last few years the state has seen its engineering seats increase to 1,230, as five institutes now offer courses in the field. The state wants students to fill up the engineering seats so much so that since 2013 it has relaxed its criterion which used to allow only those who had cleared Class XII at the first attempt to apply. Now, a Class XII student, who has failed an essential subject—maths, physics or chemistry—can clear it through the supplementary exam and apply for a seat.
Every student who answers GCET for a professional degree seat is also allotted a rank in the merit list, irrespective of score, which at times has been as low as 3 out of 75.
These lax eligibility criteria mean those with little aptitude for the stream can get an engineering seat in Goa. A state official, defending GCET, said, “The top GCET scorers have also earned ranks in institutes like IITs and BITS. This shows that GCET is accurate where performers are concerned.”