TNEA: Engineering finds more takers this year as nearly 2.5 lakh get enrolled

CHENNAI: As the last date for enrollment got over on Thursday midnight, a record number of nearly 2.5 lakh students have registered for Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) this year.

The Directorate of Technical Education (DoTE), a wing of the Higher Education Department is conducting TNEA-2024 and accordingly, the student's enrollment started on May 6 and ended on June 6.

TNEA in-charge and Professor Dr T Purushothaman told DT Next that the final and total student enrollment as of June 6 was 2,49,918 and of the total enrollment, as many as 2,06,012 students have paid the registration fees. "Of the total students who have made the payment, 1,78,180 applicants have uploaded the required certificates and documents, which are mandatory," he added.

According to the DoTE official, the students who have paid the registration fees can upload their certificates till June 12. "However, the final tally of the students, who will be qualified for admission, will be known only after assigning the random numbers on June 12, which would ensure deleting duplicate entries," he added.

A senior official from the Higher Education Department pointed out that last year the total number of students who have registered for TNEA-2023 was only 2.29,175. "This year about 20,700 students have additionally enrolled, which is above the normal average," he said.

Citing the reason for the increase, the official claimed that the implementation of the 'Tamizh Pudhalvan' and "Pudhumai Penn' schemes, which provide monthly assistance of Rs 1,000 per month for government school students to pursue courses in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) has helped.

"The 7% horizontal quota for students who studied in government schools from Class 6 to 12 will also add to the increase in enrollment at higher educational institutes this year, especially in engineering colleges," the official added.