THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a bid to arrest the annual exodus of students to neighbouring states, the government has allowed self-financing engineering colleges in Kerala to admit students, including those who do not figure in the state rank list, to all seats that remain vacant after allotment by the entrance commissioner.
However, such students will have to meet the minimum mark criterion of 45% aggregate marks in three subjects set by the All India Council for Technical Education for admission to undergraduate engineering courses.
The decision will apply to private and government-controlled self-financing engineering colleges. As per the order, the list of students admitted by colleges will also have to be vetted by the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University. The order came in the wake of a representation from the management of self-financing engineering colleges.
According to Kerala Self-Financing Engineering College Management Association (KSFECMA) president Biju Ramesh, the government had allowed such admissions earlier too but students could not benefit as the orders were issued after the admission process was nearly over.
Colleges under Catholic mgmt to benefit, too
“Last year, when hundreds of engineering aspirants migrated to other states, nearly 25,000 seats in the state were left vacant. We hope the situation will improve this year as the admissions process is about to start,” he said.
The fee structure of around 90 engineering colleges under the Kerala Self-Financing Engineering College Management Association will remain unchanged.
Since the order applies to all self-financing engineering institutions, 14 colleges under the Kerala Catholic Engineering College Management Association (KCECMA) will also get the benefit. Till now, these colleges were allowed to fill vacant seats only in the NRI quota. KCEMA president Fr Mathew Paikatt said a large number of students had to rely on other states for admission as they did not qualify in the NRI quota.
“With the norms revised, we hope students will choose to study in the state,” he said. KCECMA had also sought a marginal increase in tuition fees from the present `75,000 for all seats, which was agreed to with the government back in 2011-12. However, it is learnt the government has not considered this demand favourably. Member colleges under KCECMA had reported merit quota seat vacancies of up to 15 to 20% last year.