Self-financing engineering college managements want to admit failed students

Thiruvananthapuram: Self-financing engineering college managements have once again toughened their stand on admissions saying they should be allowed to admit students who have not qualified in the entrance examination in management seats. The general body of the Kerala Self-Financing Engineering College Management Association (KSFECMA) held in Kochi on Sunday decided to ask the government to allow admission in management seats based on the plus two marks of the students.

The decision comes ahead of the discussions it is scheduled to have with Education Minister C. Raveendranath on Monday. Earlier, the managements had softened the stand following the threat by the KSFECMA president K. Sasikumar that he would resign if the association refused to sign an agreement with the government. The executive committee, however, rejected the resignation of Mr Sasikumar.

The LDF government has made it clear that it would not allow the managements to admit students who did not write the entrance examinations and also students who did not get the minimum 10 marks needed for qualifying in the entrance examination.

The section who wants the norms watered down pointed out that as many as 11,000 seats were left vacant last year even though the last UDF government allowed managements to admit students who did not qualify the entrance examinations in vacant seats. Around 40,000 seats will remain vacant this year if the entrance rank alone was made the criteria, it argued.