Polling stations for the elections should be allocated within the respective states: Wilson MP’s letter to the central government.
Tamil Nadu: DMK Rajya Sabha MP P. Wilson has written a letter to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan demanding that centers for independent examinations conducted for B.Ed. students be allocated within their own state.
B.Ed. students in Tamil Nadu are scheduled to appear for the SWAYAM July semester examination for the year 2025 on December 15 and 16.
However, it has been revealed that a large number of Tamil Nadu students, including over 50 from Thanjavur district – many of whom had chosen their examination centers within Tamil Nadu – have been allocated examination centers in places like Mysore, Mangaluru, and Bengaluru in the states of Karnataka and Kerala.
This action by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the examination, is unfair and seriously detrimental to the educational welfare of the affected students.
In Tamil Nadu, which has the highest number of teacher training institutions in the country, thousands of B.Ed. students are required to obtain their university course completion certificates through self-examination.
In this situation, forcing students to travel hundreds of kilometers to other states has had a significant impact—especially on rural and economically disadvantaged students.
Travel and accommodation expenses have become an unbearable burden on students.
With less than ten days left for the exam, such allocations are causing severe mental stress and impacting students’ preparation.
We demand that this injustice be rectified immediately.
And this does not appear to be an isolated incident, as similar irregularities have repeatedly occurred in several national-level entrance and recruitment exams, including the undergraduate and postgraduate NEET for medical courses conducted by the NTA, and have drawn widespread criticism and questions in Parliament.
The fact that these incidents continue is not just a case of negligence, but a systematic failure of the National Examinations Agency; it appears to have failed to ensure a fair selection process.
Despite the availability of sufficient examination centers within Tamil Nadu, sending students to neighboring states creates unavoidable hardship and jeopardizes their educational future.
This raises questions about the transparency of elections, equal opportunity, and the interests and rights of the state.
Therefore, as the exam date approaches, I urge the National Examinations Agency to immediately issue an order to change the examination centers for all affected Tamil Nadu students and re-allocate them within Tamil Nadu, with priority given to the locations chosen by the students. Failure to immediately rectify this injustice will tragically shatter the dreams of thousands of Tamil Nadu students to become teachers.
He further stated in the letter that he hopes you will take immediate action to ensure that the national exams are conducted in a manner that does not disproportionately impact any state, and that transparency, accessibility, and fairness remain the core principles of our country’s education policy.
