Revaluation adds a mark, prized seats in sight

COIMBATORE: When teachers who value the answer scripts of students in a board examination wrongly award one mark less for a question it can have a serious impact on the future of a child. A classic example is that of A Shanmugapriya, who has applied for the MBBS counselling this year. When the Plus Two results were declared, she secured a medical cutoff score of 198.5, which placed her 688th in the merit rank list. With this cutoff, she stood no chance of getting admission into the most desired Madras Medical College. However, Shanmugapriya applied for a revaluation and secured an additional mark in one of her core subjects. This mark has now taken her cutoff to 199.75 and her rank has now soared 600 notches. She now holds Rank 81 'A' with which she will get a seat in the Madras Medical College. Similarly, P Mohanraj has climbed the rank ladder from 1,547 to 328 'A' now after revaluation fetched him two additional marks to take his cutoff up from 197.25 to 199.25. According to Directorate of Medical Education officials, as many as 659 MBBS/BDS aspirants have seen their rankings go up after their Plus Two answer scripts in the core subjects of Biology, Physics and Chemistry were revalued this year. Medical Admissions secretary Dr Sheela Grace Jeevamani said, "After the revaluation/ retotaling of plus two answer sheets, ranks of 659 candidates have changed. No one who applied for medical admission has got a decrease in marks due to revaluation/retotaling." Interestingly, some aspirants secured better ranks as they got higher marks in the fourth optional subject in the revaluation, although their core subject marks remained unchanged.