BOPEE playing with student’s future

Rahul Gupta
The Board for Professional Entrance Examinations (BOPEE), the statutory body of the J&K State Government is responsible for conducting the entrance examination for several professional courses and conduct counseling process for admission to these courses in all Government and Private institutions. The engineering entrance examination, JKCET and subsequent counseling and admission is also under the purview of the BOPEE. A look at the trend analysis of admissions at various engineering colleges in the State indicate that on average 300-400 seats remain vacant each year during the last 2 years.
In 2017-18, the BOPEE fixed the cut-off for admission to B.E courses at 10 marks in JKCET further reducing it to 8 in the last round till rank 6891. More than 2000 students below 8 marks who figured in the merit list published by the BOPEE were not given an opportunity for seeking admission even though approximately 450 seats remained vacant in colleges in the region.
During the current admission season 2018-19, the BOPEE has fixed the cut-off at 18 marks or rank 5091in JKCET for B.E admissions out of total of 7753 eligible students who appeared in the merit list. It seems that the BOPEE has not learnt from its past mistakes and continues to deny the fundamental “Right to Education” to all eligible students of the State. Through this action, the BOPEE is encouraging all students falling below 18 marks in the merit list i.e. 2662 students to seek admission outside the state. This strategy is clearly inimical to the interests of the students of the region and the institutions of the region.
BOPEE has failed to appreciate the mandate that it has been granted by the State Govt. under SRO 51 of 1997. The SRO clearly states that BOPEE shall be responsible for preparing a “Merit List” of eligible students. The eligibility criteria are clearly defined as a candidate having 50 percent marks in 12th class in PCM (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics) subjects. The same eligibility criteria are provided in the brochure published by the BOPEE. Thus, the BOPEE has made a blunder in calling only candidates with 18 marks and rank 5091 to fill in the online form for admissions, leaving the remaining students who are eligible and figure in the merit list in the lurch. A transparent process should have allowed all candidates appearing in the merit list to fill in their choices online. The admission process should then involve exercising the merit list till the seats are filled. The admission granted to the last candidate would automatically determine the cut-off. This is the exact same procedure followed for lakhs of students across India by different central admission agencies including the IITs. However, BOPEE has overreached its ambit by specifying additional eligibility and merit criteria after the candidates have appeared for the examination. No such criteria were specified in the brochure or at the time of appearing in JKCET.
Further, the BOPEE has been blatantly guilty of violating the guidelines governing Engineering Admissions issued by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India over the past years including last year.The dates mentioned in the calendar issued by the Hon’ble Supreme Court were violated with impunity and the process delayed to such an extent that a majority of the students who appeared for the JKCET had to take admissions outside the state leaving seats vacant. Not exercising the complete merit list as per the guidelines of the Apex Court is irresponsible to say the least.
BOPEE’s apathy in this matter is clearly impacting the future of the students and forcing them to study outside the state paying 2 to 4 times the fee fixed for institutions in J&K. Who is benefitting by this arbitrary policy of the BOPEE? Only the BOPEE or the Higher Education Department of the J&K State Government can answer this question. Till then the aspirations of the student community of J&K continue to be trampled by the BOPEE.
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