Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 11: Around 13000 students have, till date, registered for the Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) for the academic session 2017-18.
Given the overwhelming response of the students, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has decided to extend the last date for online registration upto May 31.
This information was given at a high level meeting convened here today by the Commissioner Secretary Higher Education, Dr Asghar Hassan Samoon to review the status of online registration for PMSSS and work-out the modalities for counseling of students.
Secretary School Education, Farooq A Shah, Advisor AICTE, New Delhi Dileep S Malkhade, Director Colleges J&K, Director School Education Kashmir, Director School Education Jammu and representatives of Directorate of Technical Education, Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education, J&K Board of Technical Education and other concerned departments were present at the meeting.
In a significant decision, AICTE has also decided to cover undergraduate engineering courses through lateral entry for diploma holders under PMSSS.
The meeting was informed that AICTE has agreed to cover J&K students with Diploma in Engineering under PMSSS who secure admission to BTech and BE on the basis of merit through general counseling under the said scheme.
It was informed that the counseling for admissions under PMSSS will begin next month and AICTE would, within one week, upload the list of approved colleges on its website.
Speaking at the meeting, Dr Samoon called for launching an extensive awareness campaign throughout the State to enlist as many students for PMSSS. He asked the respective Directors of School to organize awareness camps in Higher Secondary Schools across the State to counsel students on how to apply for PMSSS. He said a media campaign would be also launched to guide students on how to apply for PMSSS.
AICTE Advisor, Dileep N Malkhede informed the meeting that this year around 2800 seats would be available in engineering streams while another 1000 seats would be available in other courses under PMSSS. He said 700 recognized professional colleges and 300 general colleges across the country will be admitting the J&K students under PMSSS.
Pertinently, students having domicile of J&K who have passed Class 12th examination in academic session 2015-16 and 2016-17 from J&K State Board of School Education or CBSE affiliated schools within J&K are eligible for registration under PMSSS for 2017-18.