With the government deciding to declare all class 10 State Board students as having passed this year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, polytechnic colleges are anticipating an increase in demand for admission. However, the basis on which the merit list would be drawn up remains as yet unclear.
On Tuesday, at a virtual meeting of principals of polytechnic colleges, the issue of when and how to begin the admissions process cropped up. The Director of Technical Education (DoTE), who chaired the meeting, told them that he would consult the Higher Education Department about this.
“We usually prepare the merit list based on the class 10 board exam marks and following reservation. Now, we are unaware of how this would be done. We will go by what the DoTE instructs,” said S. Chandrasekaran, head of the mechanical engineering department at Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya Polytechnic College, Coimbatore. “There is a demand for polytechnic students,” he said.
Over the last two years the DoTE has been encouraging government college teachers to go to nearby schools and raise awareness about the benefits of taking up polytechnic education. The move came after admissions fell to just 70% in government colleges.
M Sathyan, a professor in a government-aided polytechnic college welcomed the government’s decision to award marks to class 10 students based on their performance in internal tests. “The continuous assessment of a student would show their understanding and consistency in performance,” he said.
There could be a fall in the overall cut off for admission said K. Muthukumar, a professor in a government polytechnic college. Even in normal times only 40% of students generally do well and the performance of another 40% is average. It is only that students who were aiming for 95% may end up getting 80% but such students would continue to remain toppers, he said. The pass percentage may vary by 10% for students but that may not make for a big difference in cut off marks for admission, he added.
