AICTE's schedule delay upsets TNEA-2024 counselling

CHENNAI: It is not just the medical aspirants who are facing uncertain times. If it is the NEET fiasco that has hurt them, the engineering aspirants in the State are worried over the delay by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in announcing the academic schedule, which has put the Directorate of Technical Education in a fix over scheduling counselling dates.

The Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA-2024) commenced on May 6, and about two lakh aspirants who completed the enrolment formalities were given random numbers. As per routine, while issuing the admission notification of TNEA, the counselling dates would be announced as per AICTE academic schedule.

"However, there is no information about the academic schedule till now from the AICTE. This delay has made the authorities in a state of bother," a senior official from DOTE told DT Next on condition of anonymity.

The uncertainty has led to the authorities being flooded with calls from students and parents who are anxious to know the dates of counselling, the official said. “The authorities concerned have also contacted AICTE in this regard to release the schedule in time so that the counselling session is not delayed," he said.

Responding to this, the AICTE issued a provisional academic schedule. "But we cannot fix the counselling date by going with the provisional details alone."

The online and physical process to verify certificates is under way, which will go on till June 30. After that, the merit list will be published on July 10. This gives the DoTE authorities a bit more time before the real crisis would set in, he said.

"We hope that the AICTE would announce the academic schedule before the release of the rank list so that the counselling dates could be announced for the benefit of the students," the official said.

If the counselling process for engineering admission is delayed, the cascading effect would be felt in the subsequent processes like seat allocation and then opening of colleges for first-year students, he pointed out.

The official also pointed out that if the there is a delay in conducting TNEA counselling, the engineering seat allocation to the applications will also be delayed and the opening of colleges for the first year students will also be further delayed.