PANAJI
For the second year in a row, the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) is set to relax the JEE criteria for admissions to the engineering degree programme seats in Goa. The decision comes as over 26 per cent seats are still vacant across four engineering colleges after the first round of admissions ended on July 5.
As usual, almost all seats in the State-run Goa Engineering College at Farmagudi were filled, while vacant seats are spread across private colleges -- Padre Conceicao College of Engineering, Verna; Don Bosco College of Engineering, Fatorda; Rayeshwar Institute of Engineering and Information Technology (RIEIT), Shiroda and Agnel Institute of Technology and Design, Assagao.
For the first time in 2024 after around two decades, the government had altered the criteria for admissions to the engineering seats, replacing JEE with Goa Common Entrance Test (GCET). However, with no takers for around 500 seats last year, the DTE allowed students, who had not answered JEE, to fill the vacant seats. Total 50 seats were filled.
A senior DTE official said that after the first round of admission, of the over 1,500 seats in the five colleges, around 400 were left vacant. The official said that the number may go up once the admission on NEET based courses commence -- the schedule for which is yet to be announced by the Central government.
“There are many students who have opted for engineering as a second option. If they get into medical school, they will withdraw from engineering, resulting in more vacant seats,” the official said, adding “we cannot allow so many engineering seats to fall vacant and hence have decided that this year too, we will grant JEE relaxation”.
The official also said that the proposal will be moved to the State government soon for approval.
“So any students, who did not answer JEE for whatever purpose, but has cleared Class XII science, and wants to apply for engineering, can opt in the second round,” the officer said. The second round of admissions are expected by the end of July or first week of August.
The official said that the student can seek admissions provided they meet all other criteria for admissions set by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), like minimum score of 45 per cent in physics-chemistry-mathematics (PCM) at their Class XII board exams for general students and 40 per cent for those in reserved categories.
“JEE score is only to draw the merit list. Eligibility criteria set by the AICTE is different like PCM score. So, if students meet the eligibility criteria, there is no harm in allowing them to apply for the vacant seats,” official said, adding a total of 1800 students were eligible for engineering based on merit list.
Keeping with the trend, this year too, students have shown a preference for information technology and computer engineering, with very few opting for mechanical and electrical engineering.
