Bhubaneswar, Oct. 27: Large-scale vacancies in the state’s engineering colleges have forced the Orissa government to request the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to lower the minimum eligibility criteria for admissions.

This move has sparked off a debate with educationists saying that it will deteriorate the quality of technical education in the state. The stakeholders, on the other hand, believe that marks do not truly reflect a student’s capabilities.

The secretary of the Orissa Private Engineering Colleges’ Association (Opeca), Binod Dash, had requested the government to allow colleges to admit students directly to fill up as many vacancies as possible.

“Since the eligibility criteria has been fixed at 45 per cent, students who secured 44.5 or even 44.9 per cent marks in Plus Two were denied admission. Is there really much of a difference between one who scored 44.9 per cent and one who scored 45 per cent?” he asked.

Earlier, any student who had cleared Plus Two science examination with 30 per cent marks in physics, chemistry and mathematics (PCM) and an overall aggregate of 35 per cent was eligible to appear for the Orissa Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE).

However, the AICTE directed the state to raise the bar to a minimum of 50 per cent marks in PCM.

The Opeca had moved the high court on the plea that the revised eligibility norms would further hammer the already affected engineering sector, hit by large-scale vacancies over the past two years. Candidates, who had not fulfilled the eligibility criteria, had been allowed to appear for the OJEE by an interim order passed by the high court. But many of them secured higher ranking in the entrance examination than other candidates who had secured the required cut-off marks in Plus Two science.

The criterion was lowered to 45 per cent for general category and 40 per cent for students belonging to SC and ST ctaegories.

However, despite three rounds of e-counselling, more than 24,000 seats in engineering colleges remained vacant. Taking note of this, the Opeca had filed a write petition in the court, which, in a ruling on October 9, asked the state government to take an “appropriate decision”.

“Lowering of the eligibility criteria would harm the quality of engineers being produced every year. Only students with a first-class career record are allowed to sit for campus placements. Even 45 per cent is too less for creating an impression on prospective employers. So, the problem of unemployment will arise among engineering passouts,” said R.N. Panda, principal of the Institute of Higher Secondary Education, Bhubaneswar, and former principal of BJB College.