Now, maths no bar to polytechnic course admissions

AURANGABAD: HSC students from the science stream, who did not opt for mathematics at the 10+2 level, will now be able to pursue engineering and technology courses in polytechnic institutes in Maharashtra.
The state directorate of technical education (DTE) has decided to give these students direct admission, commonly known as "lateral entry", to the second year of post-SSC diploma courses from academic year 2015-16.
Speaking to TOI on Monday, Mahesh Shivankar, DTE joint director for Aurangabad region, said the move is expected to benefit a large number of HSC students who earlier had to give up their plans of pursuing diploma courses only because they had not taken maths at the junior college level.
The sale of the application kit for the direct second-year admissions for around 390 diploma courses in the state is scheduled to begin from Tuesday.
Earlier, only HSC candidates from the science stream taking the combination of physics-chemistry-mathematics or physics-chemistry-mathematics-biology or bifocal/technical subjects or minimum competency vocational courses (MCVC) at the 10+2 level were only allowed lateral entry to the diploma courses, besides eligible ITI and other students.
Maharashtra has around 390 polytechnic institutes with an intake capacity of nearly 1.8 lakh students. Twenty per cent of these seats, which makes for nearly 36,000 seats, are open for direct second-year admissions.
The DTE has kept a 25% quota for lateral entry from each of the four designated categories - HSC (science), HSC (bifocal), HSC (MCVC) and ITI.
Shivankar said the students who did not take maths at the 10+2 level will have to give an additional examination in the subject after securing the second-year admission. "This subject is taught to students in the first year of the diploma course and covers basic concepts of maths," he said.
Balasaheb Pawar, principal of Sharadchandraji Pawar Polytechnic College, Aurangabad, welcomed the DTE decision to relax the norms. "Direct second-year admissions evoke a good response from candidates every year. Seats reserved for lateral entries never go vacant," he said.