Bhubaneswar, Nov. 7: The state government has said that admissions to all technical courses barring engineering and architecture would be held as part of the Odisha Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE) like previous years.
The clarification was issued after Odisha government decided to join the JEE (Main), a common all-India engineering entrance test, from 2014, triggering confusion about the courses that would be included within its ambit.
The state-level entrance test will cover pharmacy, homeopathy, ayurveda, MBA, MCA and lateral entry admissions. The OJEE committee will conduct counselling for the state rank holders.
Authorities of deemed universities in the state have been asked to reserve seats for domiciled students, said a senior official of the technical education department.
On the other hand, BTech aspirants have to appear for JEE (Main), a common all-India engineering entrance test while those wishing to pursue BArch would be required to sit for the National Aptitude Test in Architecture (NATA).
The CBSE (the exam conducting authority for the overarching test) has agreed to have exam centres in places such as Bhubaneswar, Rourkela, Berhampur, Sambalpur and Balasore.
Engineering admissions to NITs, IIITs, other centrally funded technical institutions and participating state government institutions will be held on the basis of JEE (Main). Marks secured in Plus Two will be taken into consideration for admission into the premier institutes.
Students have been asked to apply for offline examination scheduled on April 6. Tests in the online mode will be held on April 9, 11, 12 and 19.
The exclusion of engineering and architecture courses from the OJEE has confused students. “There must be some session to familiarise us with the JEE (Main) pattern,” said Akansha Rath, a Plus Two student.
The BPUT Students’ Protection Council has come up with demands such as 50 per cent reservation of seats for Odia students in all colleges of the state including deemed, state and unitary universities, counselling by state authorities, exam centres and nodal centres in all districts and rationalisation of CBSE and Odisha board marks.
“There has to be rationalisation of marks. The mark of a student in Malkangiri government high school and his counterpart in a CBSE or ICSE School in Bhubaneswar cannot be equated,” said Biplab Prakash Mohanty, president of the council.
The Odisha Private Engineering College Association (Opeca) has demanded amendment of the Odisha Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of admission and Fixation of fee) Act-2007 before going for the national-level entrance.
“Efforts should be made by the state government to modify the JEE (Main) eligibility criteria that bars students, who have passed Plus Two in 2011 or earlier, from appearing for the test,” said Opeca secretary Binod Dash.
