BHUBANESWAR: Days after the Supreme Court allowed the extension of deadline for admission to professional courses in the State till December 31, the Odisha Private Engineering College Association (OPECA) has urged the government to conduct a special Odisha Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE) for filling up large scale vacancies in private engineering and professional institutions.
As an alternative to the proposed special OJEE, the OPECA suggested the government approve direct enrolment without JEE or OJEE ranking for engineering courses as is done in case of MBA admission in
professional institutions across the State.
OPECA secretary Binod Dash, in a letter to Secretary of Skill Development and Technical Education department Hemant Sharma, proposed that the special OJEE could be conducted on December 26 or 27 with a two-day window for submission of applications on December 23 and 24. He said that after the examination, four to five more days will be available for publication of results and enrollment. The entire admission process could be completed within the deadline of December 31.
“This way thousands of students who are unable to take admission to engineering and other professional courses in the absence of OJEE rank, can get enrolled and the seats approved by the AICTE for 2021-22 academic session will not go waste,” Dash wrote, while urging the State government to consider OPECA’s appeal.
He said neither the apex court nor AICTE has prevented the government from holding a special OJEE. Besides, direct admission is also an option which could help thousands of students from losing an academic year.