Uttar Pradesh Technical University (UPTU) is mulling examination centres for the UP state entrance examination (UPSEE) 2014 outside the state too. A proposal in this context will be sent to the state government for final nod. In its CAB (Central Admission Board) meeting held on Tuesday, there was discussion on holding SEE in other neighbouring states. The objective, officials said, is to increase participation of students, which is declining with each passing year and second, to have diverse culture in technical colleges. SEE-2014 will be held in third week of April.
If government gives its consent, there is also a possibility that the existing admission criteria where 20% admissions are done through national tests -JEE (mains) for B Tech and CMAT for MBA, will be scrapped. Officials told TOI that no more than 10% students in all are enrolled in UPTU's flagship courses-B Tech and MBA through national examinations. "The response is poor. Less than 10% candidates from JEE (mains) took admission to UPTU this year,'' said officials.
UPTU, having learnt its lessons from last year's high number of impersonation of examinees, has decided to introduce biometric attendance process for SEE candidates. "At the time of filling up the application forms, thumb impression of the candidates will be taken. It will be repeated when he/she appears for the examination,'' said D S Yadav, pro vice-chancellor, UPTU.
Chaired by UPTU V-C R K Khandal, the meeting also discussed two major issues-how to increase the number of students, and ways to seek greater participation of students in counseling. Under the presence of government representatives, it was decided that more institutions will participate in the admission process. This means, more colleges will be made examination and counseling centres. Also, there will be no printing of brochures this year. "e-brochures will be available. Students can also download application form from the website,'' said Khandal.
Like previous year, entrance test for admissions to MBA, MCA will be online while for B Tech, the test will be held in the traditional pen-and-paper mode. In 2011, the university had gone paperless for MBA, MCA. Application process will be both offline and online. Giving figures, officials said, 1.96 lakh had applied for SEE 2013 - 3,000 candidates more than 2012. Of this, 1.56 lakh qualified the exam, same as in 2012. Out of this, only 57,000 reported for counseling, similar to the number in 2012. Interestingly, as against 37,000 reserved seats through SEE, only 29,000 joined various colleges. "Close to 1 lakh student dropped out in the counseling stage itself,'' said officials attributing time lag between the result declaration and beginning of counseling as reasons for the drop out.
Yadav said when the final figures came in, we saw 1.24 lakh students enrolled in colleges. This means, students prefer direct admission over the counseling. Hence, this year, it is decided to finish counseling latest by July 15 and give a month's time to colleges for direct admissions (August 15 is the deadline fixed by the SC for admissions).
One of the most-sought after examination in UP, SEE admits students in government, government-aided and private colleges affiliated to UPTU. SEE is a objective type test that is conducted for twelve papers. Candidates are to answer the questions on OMR sheet. The cost of the form is Rs 1,000 for general and OBC students but for SC/ST and girl students of all category the cost is Rs 500.
