File picture of students at a polytechnic in the state

Bhubaneswar, May 9: The state government has directed all district collectors to create awareness and mobilise students to appear for the Diploma Entrance Test (DET), 2014.

DET-2014 entails admission into diploma courses at various government polytechnics in the state. The entrance test will be held on May 18.

The directive came after it was observed that there was very little response from students of Plus Two and class X for the entrance test.

“Apparently, awareness about admission into various diploma courses in government polytechnics through the test has not been disseminated properly among the students,” said a senior official in the technical education department, adding that the district collectors had been asked to mobilise the students to appear for the test.

Letters have been sent out to the collectors of Deogarh, Puri, Nuapada, Nayagarh, Koraput, Kalahandi, Jajpur, Boudh, Angul and Bargarh to mobilise eligible students in their respective districts where the government is setting up polytechnics with the help of the ministry of human resources development.

The private diploma engineering schools across the state have demanded scrapping of the DET.

Promoters of these engineering schools alleged that although the revised rules of the All-India Council of Technical Education provides that candidate with 35 per cent in HSC could take up a diploma engineering course without qualifying any entrance test, the state continued to force the candidates to appear for the DET.

This is being done to collect the entrance fee, which amounts to around Rs 4 crore every year, alleged promoters of such colleges.

The colleges under the banner of the Odisha Private Engineering Schools’ Association demanded that the state government should allow the admissions, according to the council norm by drawing a merit list.

“A state-level merit list of candidates with 35 per cent marks desiring to take admissions can be drawn up and admission can very well be conducted in lines with the Plus Two and Plus Three admissions in the state,” said association secretary Saroj Sahoo.

The ministry of human resources development has decided to set up 22 government polytechnics in under-served and uncovered districts of the state under the submission on polytechnic scheme. An amount of Rs 12.30 crore has been sanctioned for each polytechnic to be set up in the state.