CHENNAI: The number of students applying for the Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Bachelor’s degrees at Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (Tanuvas) has increased 20% compared to the previous academic year.
A university official said the number exceeded the total number of applicants last year. “Last year the university received 15,580 applications for the BVSc & AH and B Tech courses. This year, 15,732 applications were received for the BVSc course alone and 3,028 for the B-Tech course. The deadline for applying for a consultation is October 8, ”the official said.
Experts point to the Class XII weight system adopted by the government this year. The number of students with over 550 out of 600 points has increased 16-fold this year. “More top scorers in Class XII this year is the reason for the increase in applications for professional degrees, including engineering and veterinary sciences,” said education advisor D Nedunchezhiyan.
Pointing out the uncertainty in securing an MBBS spot, career counsel Jayaprakash Gandhi said most medical aspirants applied for veterinary and agriculture courses, which they kept as their Plan B.
Admission to the five-year BVSc & AH course is based on grades from class XII. The university publishes a list of achievements based on the overall grades in physics, chemistry and biology. There are 480 BVSc places in seven veterinary colleges under the control of the university and 15% of the seats are reserved for admission under the total India quota. In addition to the natural sciences, the mathematics score is also taken into account for admission to B-Tech courses. The university has 100 places in the B Tech courses of food technology, poultry technology and dairy technology at three colleges.