After poly, AICTE lowers bar for engg to 45% in PCM
NAGPUR: Engineering colleges in Maharashtra, which were finding it extremely difficult to get candidates for degree courses, have some reason to cheer. AICTE has relaxed the basic eligibility criteria for admissions to engineering first year course to 45% (40% for reserved category candidates) aggregate in physics, chemistry and mathematics (PCM) group in standard XII exam. This criteria was fixed at 50% till last year.
This follows the apex engineering body's decision to lower the bar for polytechnic admissions to 35% from 50% in standard X exam from any board.
"The AICTE had taken this decision a couple of days back. But it's yet to reach us formally," technical education director Subhash Mahajan told TOI from Mumbai. He added that DTE will make changes only after getting official communication in this regard. Highly placed sources said that the last date of form submission is likely to be extended beyond July 2 if the new criterion is implemented.
They pointed out that AICTE was forced to lower the bar as demand for engineers was high globally, but the field evoked a poor response from candidates. Not only were high fees a factor, but many students were also not able to fulfil even the basic criteria of getting 50% in PCM group in the standard XII exams.
Over 1.14 lakh engineering seats are up for grabs in 309 colleges across Maharashtra currently. However, the number of applications was around 90,000 till Wednesday, which raised fears of many seats remaining vacant across the state. Last year, over 22,000 were vacant and many new colleges were forced to close some branches, including information technology, which was once the popular choice of students.
Over 2.54 lakh applicants had appeared for the engineering entrance exam, for which minimum eligibility is just one mark out of 200. However, many of them were not able to fulfil the basic criteria of scoring 150/300 marks in PCM group in HSC. With AICTE lowering the bar, any candidate scoring 135/300 marks would become eligible for admissions to BE first year.
toi
This follows the apex engineering body's decision to lower the bar for polytechnic admissions to 35% from 50% in standard X exam from any board.
"The AICTE had taken this decision a couple of days back. But it's yet to reach us formally," technical education director Subhash Mahajan told TOI from Mumbai. He added that DTE will make changes only after getting official communication in this regard. Highly placed sources said that the last date of form submission is likely to be extended beyond July 2 if the new criterion is implemented.
They pointed out that AICTE was forced to lower the bar as demand for engineers was high globally, but the field evoked a poor response from candidates. Not only were high fees a factor, but many students were also not able to fulfil even the basic criteria of getting 50% in PCM group in the standard XII exams.
Over 1.14 lakh engineering seats are up for grabs in 309 colleges across Maharashtra currently. However, the number of applications was around 90,000 till Wednesday, which raised fears of many seats remaining vacant across the state. Last year, over 22,000 were vacant and many new colleges were forced to close some branches, including information technology, which was once the popular choice of students.
Over 2.54 lakh applicants had appeared for the engineering entrance exam, for which minimum eligibility is just one mark out of 200. However, many of them were not able to fulfil the basic criteria of scoring 150/300 marks in PCM group in HSC. With AICTE lowering the bar, any candidate scoring 135/300 marks would become eligible for admissions to BE first year.
toi
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