FOR THE first time, the Gujarat government has allowed admissions to 15 undergraduate engineering courses for students who cleared Class 12 with Biology as the main subject.
The change in the admission criteria has been adopted in order to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.Among first of the states to implement All India Council for Technical Education’s (AICTE’s) recommendations as part of its approval process handbook 2021-22 where Mathematics subject is not mandatory for engineering admissions, Gujarat has opened a total of 1,291 seats– 955 state quota and 336 management quota — across 15 engineering branches to Class 12 biology students from academic session 2021-22.
The new decision has already garnered an encouraging response as nearly 1,700 registrations from students with Biology as main subject, against 955 seats opened for centralised admissions, have been recorded at the Admission Committee for Professional Courses (ACPC) as on Thursday. ACPC is the nodal agency for centralised admissions in engineering and pharmacy courses across the state.
While at the same time a total of 35,259 registrations have been recorded by ACPC for 50,240 engineering seats in the state, even less than the total seats available.
The merit list for degree engineering admissions that was scheduled to be declared on September 1 has been changed to September 6 and degree pharmacy courses to September 10.
“Gujarat is among the few states to have implemented this scheme proposed by AICTE in order to implement NEP. These 15 courses have been shortlisted keeping in mind the course structure where Mathematics as a subject is not a mandate,” ACPC Member Secretary Prof Rajul Gajjar told The Indian Express. She is also principal LD College of Engineering Ahmedabad that has offered highest number of seats in total three courses.
Director of Technical Education G T Pandya said, “Since NEP 2020 allows multi-disciplinary admission to students, students with Biology as the main subject in Class 12 are given an opportunity to study these 15 engineering branches.”
The undergraduate engineering courses offered to Biology students are in the fields of biomedical, rubber, textile technology, computer science and biosciences, food processing, dairy agriculture, nano technology among others at Government Engineering College Gandhinagar, Faculty of Technology and Engineering (MSU) Vadodara, Ganpat University Mehsana in addition to LD College of Engineering and PArul University Waghodia.
However, students have to undertake a bridge course suggested by the committee and implemented too.
Further, the state is expected to implement more changes in the coming months. “The AICTE has recommended several initiatives in view of NEP leaving open to the states to implement these. The state government has decided to implement these in phases,” said Principal Secretary, Education S J Haider.
“While only 15 branches have been opened this year, from next academic session all engineering branches will allow admissions to students without Mathematics as a subject in Class 12,” revealed Prof Navin Sheth, Vice Chancellor of Gujarat Technological University (GTU) who headed the committee that was constituted by the state government especially for analysis and implementation of AICTE’s proposal to allow non Mathematics students in engineering.
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