Pandemic-induced challenges failed to deter engineering aspirants in the State with more students qualifying for the BTech admission this year.
The results of the KEAM 2020 entrance examinations, declared by Higher Education Minister K.T. Jaleel on Thursday, saw 53,236 candidates securing eligibility for admission, marking a significant increase of 7,639 compared with last year.
Boys outshone girls this year too by securing the top nine ranks in the engineering entrance test. In the pharmacy entrance, boys bagged seven out of the top 10 ranks.
The toppers
Varun K.S. of Kottayam bagged the top position in the engineering entrance by securing a score of 593.6776. Gokul Govind T.K. of Kannur and Niyaz Mon P. of Malappuram came second and third respectively.
Akshay K. Muraleedharan of Thrissur, Joyal James of Kasaragod and Aditya Byju of Kollam occupied the top three positions in the pharmacy entrance.
Jagan M.J. of Kollam and Neema P. Manikandan of Kannur topped the rankings in the Scheduled Caste and Schedule Tribe categories respectively in the engineering entrance.
Sixty-six students among the top 100 appeared for the engineering entrance test for the first time.
Better quality
The increasing number of those clearing the test in their first attempt bore testament to the quality of general education in the State, Dr. Jaleel said.
The allotment process for the engineering and pharmacy courses would begin on September 29.
The entrance test was held on July 16 amid widespread concern and travel difficulties caused by COVID-19.
Toppers’ goals
Despite having topped the State entrance test, the trio of Varun, Gokul, and Niyaz have set their sights on attempting the JEE (Advanced) 2020 examination on September 27 for admissions to IITs and other prestigious institutions.
While all of them had dedicated a year for entrance coaching, this year’s examination is Niyaz’s first attempt while the others managed to improve on their 2019 performances.
While being flexible on their choice of engineering streams, the toppers gave priority for the reputation and academic standards of colleges they hoped to gain admission.