Eligibility criteria for technical courses relaxed

Getting into a technical college will now be simpler for students with the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) lowering the eligibility criteria from 50% in Class 12 to 45% (in physics, chemistry and math) from this year.

Getting into a technical college will now be simpler for students with the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) lowering the eligibility criteria from 50% in Class 12 to 45% (in physics, chemistry and math) from this year.

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The criteria will apply to engineering, hotel management, pharmacy and architecture courses. For the reserved category the cut-off will now be 40%. The decision was taken in a meeting held in Delhi on Tuesday.

“After considering representations from all states we decided to make the eligibility uniform for all,” said SS Mantha, officiating chairman, AICTE.

In Maharashtra, last year 22,000 engineering seats went vacant after the admission process.

“Lowering the cut-off will fill seats in colleges that have vacancies but it would dilute the quality of students and eventually the quality of engineers and architects we produce,” said a principal, who requested anonymity. According to the National Association of Software and Services Companies only one in four engineering graduates in the country is employable based on their technical skills, fluency in English, teamwork and presentation skills.

The admission process for technical courses has begun in the state and the Directorate of Technical Education is waiting for the AICTE circular to implement the new criteria.