According to the AICTE revised academic calendar approved by the Supreme Court on Monday, engineering and technical institutions must begin classes for new students on October 25 and existing students on October 1.
The calendar was created with the Covid-19 pandemic in mind, as well as the delay in declaring CBSE and other state boards' Class 12 results in mind. The results are expected to be made public on July 31.
The AICTE calendar was approved by a bench of justices L Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose, who stated that an exception to the schedule is being made only due to the pandemic.
While the dates of the various institutions' entrance exams have yet to be announced, the AICTE has asked all technical institutions to complete the first round of counselling by September 30, and the second round by October 10. Those who apply before October 15 for a seat cancellation in the first semester will receive a full fee refund. Institutions will have until October 20 to fill these positions.
Admissions to standalone institutions offering post-graduate diploma in management (PGDM) or certificate courses in management will close on August 11. According to the AICTE's revised schedule, admissions for open and distance learning courses or courses taught online will close on September 10 for the first session and February 1, 2022 for the second session.
The revised calendar for the current academic session 2021-22 was submitted to the Supreme Court by AICTE through advocate Harish Pandey in an application. Admission to engineering and technical courses is governed by an academic calendar established by the Supreme Court in December 2012, which cannot be changed without the permission of the highest court.
According to this order, classes for engineering and technical courses must begin on August 1 each year, and any vacancies must be filled by colleges/institutions by August 15.
This schedule was also not followed last year because admissions were delayed due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. During the previous year, the AICTE revised the schedule three times: once in August, once in October, and once in November. Finally, the deadline for the start of classes last year was December 1, and students were allowed to cancel their admission with a full refund until November 30, 2020.
This year, the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic compelled AICTE to submit a revised calendar to the court for approval. In his appearance on behalf of the AICTE, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) KM Nataraj told the Supreme Court that technical institutions were only able to begin classes for 2020-21 in January 2021, and even the second semester exams were postponed due to the pandemic.
The results of the Class 12 Board exams, which are usually released by the first week of June, have been delayed until July 31, according to ASG Nataraj. Because of the lockdown in several states, the AICTE was unable to complete its inspection of institutions seeking approval or affiliation.
The court gave the AICTE until July 15 to approve technical institutions, standalone PGDM institutions, and other institutions offering open, distance learning, and online medium courses. The deadline for any university or board to approve affiliation with any technical institution has also been extended to August 10, 2021.
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