Polytechnics affiliated to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) will have to reserve two seats in every course from the upcoming 2022-23 academic session for applicants orphaned by Covid-19 who are covered under the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund, the technical education regulator has said.
The new clause has been added to the revised approval process norms of AICTE for 2022-23 that was released on Tuesday. In May last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a support scheme under the fund for children orphaned due to Covid-19.
Reserving two seats per course will not impact other applicants because the institutes can increase their sanctioned intake capacity accordingly. There are 4,302 children beneficiaries of the Prime Minister’s scheme as on March 16, not all of whom would opt for technical education.
“Such children who are issued PM CARES certificate shall be eligible for admission in polytechnic institutions under the supernumerary quota,” AICTE’s new approval process booklet stated.
Polytechnics offer diplomas in a variety of industrial arts, applied sciences, or technical subjects. There are about 3,591 approved polytechnics in the country.
The scheme covers all children below 18 years of age who lost both parents, surviving parent, legal guardian or adoptive parent due to Covid-19 between March 3, 2020, when the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, and February 28, 2022.
{{/usCountry}}The scheme covers all children below 18 years of age who lost both parents, surviving parent, legal guardian or adoptive parent due to Covid-19 between March 3, 2020, when the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, and February 28, 2022.
{{/usCountry}}The provision will remain valid till the pandemic orphans attain the age of attending polytechnic courses, AICTE chairperson Anil Sahasrabuddhe said.
“Some children orphaned due to Covid-19 are infants, some may be in pre-primary classes or primary classes,” he said. “Till these children complete their Class 10 and become eligible for admission to polytechnics, this provision will continue.”
The council also released the framework for multiple entry and exit options during the four-year BTech programmes in line with the National Education Policy 2020.
Students who exit after completing one year will get an undergraduate certificate, an undergraduate diploma if they exit after two years, a Bachelor of Vocational Education degree after three years, or a BTech or BE degree after completing four years, the regulator said.
The AICTE has also decided to reserve two extra seats in all approved institutes for “gifted and talented” students.
“There are many students who are extraordinarily innovative from a very young age. Some of them create or even patent products. They may not be interested in textbook knowledge and, therefore, they may be able to perform well in exams and entrance tests,” Sahasrabuddhe said. Such children should also be given an opportunity. The AICTE will devise norms for the selection of such children.”
‘Maths, physics and chemistry not mandatory for 3 engineering courses’
According to the revised approval norms released by AICTE on Tuesday, it is no longer mandatory to study physics, chemistry and mathematics in Class 12 for admission to three engineering courses— architecture, fashion technology, and packaging technology.
The AICTE last year announced that it might do away with the mandatory requirement for mathematics, physics and chemistry for some engineering programmes. However, the exception has been made for the above three disciplines only this year.
As per the guidelines, the colleges can select any three subjects out of 14 choices provided by the AICTE for admission to these three programmes. These courses are physics, mathematics, chemistry, computer science, electronics/information technology, biology, informatics practices, biotechnology, technical vocational subject, agriculture, engineering graphics, business studies and entrepreneurship.
“The decision has been taken on the recommendation of a committee. It was found that physics, chemistry and mathematics cannot be the absolute requirement for admission to these courses. Therefore,the AICTE has decided to give a wider range of subject choice to colleges for admission to these three courses,” said a senior AICTE official.