Easier to be engineer

After paving the way for admission into engineering colleges without taking the joint entrance exam, the government has announced a downward revision of the minimum eligibility norm from 50 to 45 per cent in physics, chemistry and math in the Class XII board exams.

The new eligibility norm was decided by the All India Council For Technical Education last week. “A letter asking the government to implement the five per cent cut reached the higher education department on Monday evening. The reduced eligibility criteria takes effect immediately,” Satish Tiwary, the principal secretary of higher education, said.

The reason cited by the council for lowering the bar is the “growing demand” for engineers in India and elsewhere, the unspoken part of the argument being that mass production isn’t such a bad compromise for quality.

The 45 per cent eligibility norm is making a comeback, having been scrapped once before after a section of industry complained to the council about private colleges producing incompetent engineers.

In Bengal, the revised eligibility is a boon for those who have cracked the joint entrance this year but don’t have 50 per cent or more in physics, chemistry and math. This year’s engineering list has more than 90,000 names.

The decision has also brought cheer to private engineering institutions that haven’t been able to fill up their seats. Nearly 6,000 seats in private engineering institutes across the state had remained vacant last year.

“I can understand trying to produce more engineers and ensuring that seats don’t remain vacant. But the authorities need to realise that it will also allow some private institutes to produce incompetent engineers,” said a Jadavpur University teacher.

An official of the higher education department said the state government had little choice but to follow the technical education council’s order.

“The decision is binding on every state. But private institutes have the freedom to opt for a higher cut-off if they want to maintain academic standards,” the official said.