Students wait in queue to collect admission forms at Cotton College in Guwahati. File picture

Jorhat, June 8: Dispur has framed a uniform policy of admitting students to degree courses in different streams of government and provincialised colleges of the state.

The policy, notified on June 5 by the commissioner and secretary of the higher education department, H.K. Sharma, will come into immediate effect from the current academic year, 2014-2015.

The director of higher education, P. Jidung, through a circular issued on June 6, has forwarded the notification of the new admission policy to all the seven government and 189 provincialised colleges of the state.

The notification stated that the government was actively considering formulation of a uniform policy of admission of students in degree-level colleges of the state since sometime back, and, accordingly has come out with a set of guidelines/instructions, which the colleges need to “comply scrupulously” from the current academic year.

“Any deviation from the set of guidelines/instructions will be viewed seriously and will invite disciplinary action,” Sharma said.

The policy said the principal or any other authority of a college would have no discretionary quota under which seats could be filled up. It said college authorities would offer no seats for admission through donations to the college fund.

It stated that the college authorities will have to declare the number of seats vacant in each stream at the beginning of the session, and publish the same in local English and Assamese daily newspapers by issuing an admission notice or put up the same on the college notice boards.

The policy stated that admission process should adhere to the merit list prepared by the college on the basis of marks obtained by the candidates in the qualifying examination (for respective subjects) held by the college and according to the government reservation policy.

Another instruction was that maximum 5 per cent of the seats could be earmarked for outstanding sportspersons, NCC cadets, students with proficiency in cultural activities and for the wards of college employees.

The break up of the 5 per cent is: Two per cent for sportspersons who have to be recognised by IOA or SAI and have also represented the district or the state, 1 per cent for wards of the college employees, 1 per cent for NCC/scouts/guides and one per cent for students who have significant achievements in the cultural field. It said the detailed guidelines for filling up these (5per cent) seats could be finalised by the college governing bodies.

The policy document stated that the principals would notify the closure of admission and publish the category-wise names of the eligible students and their marks on the college notice boards and also in the respective college websites.

The notice asked the principals to submit the lists of students, eligible for admission, to the office of the director of higher education at Kahilipara, Guwahati.

Sources in the education department said some of the instructions in the new policy were already in practice in some colleges of the state, but for first time the government has put together all necessary instructions under a uniform policy for admission to colleges.

They said those degree colleges, which also has the higher secondary level, will also follow the same new policy guidelines with respect to the admission process in the plus-II level.