Following requests from parents, and also considering the difficulties faced by students from rural areas who do not have access to the inter to enrol themselves, the authorities have extended deadline for online registration to July 19.

According to a senior official from the Directorate of Technical Education (DoTE) more than 10,000 students enrolled online for diploma and part-time diploma courses on June 25, the first day of admission. “The Directorate also made arrangements for students without access to internet for enrolling online to visit Tamil Nadu Polytechnic Admission Facilitation Centre (TPAFC) established in all districts to help them with registration,” he added. Admissions to polytechnic colleges would be based on marks scored either in quarterly or half-yearly exams in Class 9, the official said.

“Even if a student has not appeared for both these exams, a minimum of 35 marks could be allocated. Therefore, even students who performed poor may also get admission,” he added. More than one lakh students are expected to enrol for various diploma courses this year, he said. There are about 50 government polytechnic colleges, 30 aided colleges and more than 400 private institutions that offer diploma courses. The official claimed that the new admissions this year are likely to far exceed the intake capacity of government and aided colleges. If the new admissions are more than the intake capacity, the additional applications would be referred to the nearest polytechnic college so that as many aspirants as possible would be accommodated. As usual, electronics, electrical and computer science diplomas continue to be the most sought after among the students this year as well, the official said.

“More than 700 video modules have been prepared through Educational Multimedia Research Centre of Anna University. These have been uploaded on YouTube so that newly admitted students can use that to learn if in case physical classes get delayed due to the pandemic,” he added.