Delay in the issue of notification to take up counselling for admissions in engineering colleges in the State is causing concern among the students who have qualified in the Common Entrance Test and their parents.
“The neighbouring Telangana has already completed the first phase of counselling, and we are still waiting for the government to release the schedule for the process,” says a worried Priyanka Bikkina.
Members of the Andhra Pradesh Private Engineering Colleges’ Managements’ Association (APPECMA) have already made a representation to the officials of the Department of Higher Education with an appeal to expedite the process as otherwise the students would migrate to deemed universities and private colleges in the neighbouring States of Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
“The Engineering, Agriculture and Pharmacy Common Entrance Test (EAPCET-2021) concluded on August 25, and we are still waiting for the notification for the counselling process to begin,” said C. Gangi Reddy, president of the association, citing “an inordinate delay on the part of the AP State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) to start the process.”
Sources, meanwhile, said the universities were of the view that recognition of 38 colleges that failed to enrol more than 25% of admissions in the last three years should be revoked.
Of these colleges, 22 were affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University- Kakinada (JNTU-K) and 16 to JNTU-Anantapur.
Last year, permissions were denied to 30 colleges, and officials were assessing their records to check if the anomalies had been addressed.
Convener quota
The new system put in place this year, which says that the government will fill 35% of the seats under ‘Convener quota’ in private universities, is said to be contributing to the delay.
The fee structure for these seats would be fixed by the Andhra Pradesh Higher Education Regulatory and Monitoring Commission (APHERMC).
When contacted, a top official of the APSCHE said the council was waiting for the universities to complete the affiliation process and submit to it the details of the sanctioned intake.
Referring to the G.O. on the 35% government quota in private universities, he said the data and information related to the final fee structure fixed by the APHERMC was also awaited.
‘Notification likely this week’
“Once that is done, we will take up the admission process. We may probably release the notification this week,” he said.
The APPECMA office-bearers, meanwhile, have called for a general body meeting on Wednesday (October 6) to discuss the repercussions of the delay on their institutions.