Diploma holders can join II year BE

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, SEPT. 20. The Government has decided to allow diploma holders to join the second year engineering degree course directly from this academic year, the Minister of State for Higher Education, Dr. G. Parameshwar, said here today.

Dr. Parameshwar told presspersons that the Cabinet gave its approval in principle at its last meeting after the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) permitted the Government last year to revive the earlier system of lateral entry.

He said the lateral entry for diploma holders to second year degree course was discontinued after the AICTE came into existence. However, it was reconsidered and students in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra had been given this privilege.

The decision would help 1,600 diploma holders to join the second year course directly. There was provision for conducting a bridge course for those who had not cleared some subjects in the diploma course. The syllabi for the bridge course had been prepared by the university. The minister said he did not see any problem in accommodating 1,600 students in the second year in view of the number of courses and the scope for an intake of 36,000 students in engineering colleges.

The decision would also make the polytechnic courses more attractive. The Government had been spending huge sums on these institutions. About Rs. 95 crores of World Bank assistance had been utilised in the past few years for improving polytechnic buildings and faculty.

PG medical admissions:

Referring to an allegation by the BJP MLA, Mr. A. Ramdas, that the Government had violated the direction of the Medical Council of India (MCI) by fixing 50 per of seats for merit students in the admissions to postgraduate degree and diploma courses to oblige private college managements, he said the legal opinion was that the direction need not be implemented as MCI direction had come after the court order against changing the 80:20 ratio for management and merit quota. Thus only for this year the existing ratio was continued, he added.

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