The Odisha Private Engineering School’s Association (OPESA) has demanded scrapping of the Diploma Entrance Test (DET) from next year owing to large number of vacant seats in the institutes.
This year, out of 39,319 seats in the diploma institutes in the State, only 13,931 seats have been filled up after first round of counselling, leaving about 65 per cent of the seats vacant.
All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) revised its guidelines in 2011 for admission into diploma engineering institutes for which the minimum requirement has been specified to be 35 per cent marks in Class X board examination. A second DET will be conducted after the order issued by the High Court (HC) recently.
The online applications will be accepted till August 3.
The second DET will be conducted on August 4 for engineering and non-engineering courses. The choice locking for the second DET will be conducted from August 9 to 12.
The rank holders of the first Diploma Entrance Test can also lock their choices during the second round of counselling. The second counselling will be completed by August 14.
Since the DET examinations will be conducted only in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, candidates from the flood affected areas who will not be able to come for the entrance test have raised objections. OPESA members have demanded that the admission into the diploma institutes should be based on the merit list only, like the admission into junior colleges. This will also ensure that majority of the seats are filled up faster.
OPESA general secretary Saroj Sahoo told the media persons that the confusing manner in which the DETs are conducted is the cause of large number of vacant seats. “It takes two months to conduct DET and complete the admission process. We know that at least 4,000 candidates are opting for other States due to delay in the admission process,” said Sahoo.
Panchayati Raj (PR) and Information and Public Relations (I&PR) Minister and OPESA president Prafulla Samal was also present.