To avoid wastage of seats in premier engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu, the State Higher Education Department on Wednesday decided to postpone the online counselling for Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) for general category students scheduled to begin on August 25.
Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy said the counselling will begin two days after the publication of NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) results, and the decision was taken due to the delay in the publication of results. The current counselling schedule was planned as NEET results were expected on August 21, he said.
“The decision has been taken for the welfare of students,” Ponmudy said in Villupuram.
NEET is the single nationwide entrance exam conducted for admission to MBBS and BDS courses.
Every year, hundreds of students selected for admission to top Engineering colleges either don’t join college or quit immediately after joining to pursue MBBS after NEET results.
The decision has evoked mixed reactions among academicians. While some welcome the decision as it will give students ample time to make the right carrier choices, others said the quality of education may be compromised as the academic calendar will become shorter. The counselling was already behind schedule due to a delay in the publication of CBSE results.
“Last year, almost 25% of seats in four campus colleges of Anna University remained vacant as over 600 students moved to medical colleges after NEET results. Several seats in the premier technical university, where many dream to study, were wasted as by the time NEET results were declared, engineering counselling was over and we could not admit students. Postponing engineering counselling this year will help avoid such a situation,” said a senior faculty of Anna University.
Akila Muthuramalingam, Principal, KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology, however, said colleges may have to rush to finish the syllabus as the academic calendar will become shorter by almost three months. Usually, classes for first-year students start from the first week of September but this year it will only begin in December, that to, if the two-month-long counselling process starts in September, she said.
“As per TNEA’s earlier schedule, counselling for general category students was supposed to start from August 25 and conclude on October 21. I would request them to shorten the two-month-long counselling schedule if possible. Else, students will be frustrated,” she said.
Courtesy : Edex
