BHUBANESWAR: With the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) giving State Governments a free hand in admission to professional courses including engineering, the private colleges have urged Odisha Government to allow admission of non-JEE candidates to seats falling vacant after first two rounds of counselling.
In its Approval Process Handbook 2018-19, the national body recently pointed out that States and Union Territories are free to decide modalities of admission after which the demand of private colleges gathered steam.The Odisha Private Engineering College Association (OPECA) has written to Department of Skill Development and Technical Education seeking permission for college level counselling for admission.
Currently, the State Government uses JEE (Main) route for admission to B Tech programmes in the under graduate level. A separate list is prepared from the JEE (Main) list for the State.
The Odisha JEE holds counselling in two rounds for admission but in the last five years, the enrolment has dropped drastically. It is about 35 per cent at present. Special OJEE has been held after court directions.
While the AICTE has already announced that branches which have recorded less than 30 per cent admission in the last five years will automatically see a slash by 50 per cent, it has also encouraged private colleges to go in for progressive closure of the less popular programmes.
Welcoming AICTE decision, OPECA says a number of private institutions have already started applying for progressive closure of the courses that have reported low enrolment. However, it is of the opinion that vacancy situation can improve if the State Government allows college level counselling from the JEE (Main) rank holders or candidates from the JEE list of other States.
Similarly, candidates on the list of Deemed University merit list and non-JEE candidates with eligibility should also be permitted to be admitted. “If this modality is implemented, there shall be no requirement for conducting Special OJEE,” OPECA secretary Binod Dash said.
Similarly, for admission into B Tech and MCA courses through lateral entry, qualifying examination marks must be considered because there is no need for ranking, the colleges body said.The MBA and MCA courses have witnessed a rise in enrolment in the last six to seven years because of increased students availability. Since the new AICTE clause provides for admission basing on qualifying examination marks, it must be permitted too, it asserted.
A step ahead
State Govt currently uses JEE (Main) route for admission to B Tech programmes in UG level
Separate list is prepared from the JEE (Main) list for the State
Odisha JEE holds counselling in two rounds for admission
Enrolment is at 35 pc now, after a drastic drop in the last 5 years
To fill vacancies, Special OJEE has been held after court directions
A number of private institutions have started applying for progressive closure of courses that have reported low enrolment