KEAM 2025: Government had good intentions in rank revision, says education minister

KOCHI: Kerala Higher Education Minister R Bindu on Friday defended the government's intervention in the KEAM exam results, calling it a well-intentioned move aimed at ensuring justice for all students.

A day after the division bench of the Kerala High Court upheld the decision of the single judge of the same court, striking down a last-minute change made by the state government to the KEAM 2025 entrance exam prospectus, Bindu said the revised formula used to prepare the new rank list was based on scientific considerations and designed to correct imbalances that had disadvantaged Kerala State syllabus students in the previous year.

"The government acted to make sure that no student is denied fairness. The formula adopted was scientific and considered all aspects," she told reporters. Bindu pointed out that last year, students from the Kerala State Board had faced a disadvantage of up to 35 marks, even when they had scored full marks in the KEAM entrance exam.

Also read After HC order, KEAM rank list 2025 sees 5th rank holder emerge as topper

KEAM 2025 rank list revised

"That was, in fact, an injustice," she said. "We explored several formulas to correct this anomaly." She added that the new formula was implemented on the basis of recommendations by an expert committee, and that the prospectus already had a provision allowing for such changes-- the government has the authority to amend such guidelines at any time.

The minister stressed that no student should suffer due to a fault that was not theirs and insisted the aim was to protect students from systemic disadvantages. However, the revised rank list has reportedly caused considerable distress among many Kerala syllabus students and their families, who are now facing uncertainty and stress.

With the updated ranks published just before the start of the admission allotment process, many students who had initially ranked high in the now-cancelled list have been affected significantly. The sudden change has left several students unlikely to get seats in their preferred colleges or programmes. Parents say they are struggling to deal with the emotional toll the development has taken on their children.