To ensure wide publicity and maximum intake of candidates, the authorities have decided to hold series of workshops and counseling seminars ahead of admissions for 2018-2019 academic session under the Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) for Jammu and Kashmir.The preparations being made at various levels were reviewed here today at a high level meeting chaired by Principal Secretary to Higher Education Department Dr Asgar Samoon and attended by Director, All India Counsel for Technical Education (AICTE), Dr Manpreet Singh Manna, Under Secretary MHRD, Ghanshyam, Special Secretary Higher Education, Neetu Gupta, Director School Education , Jammu, Ravinder Singh andother senior officers. Launched six years back, the flagship Special Scholarship scheme being implemented in the state through AICTE, offers opportunities to potential students with marginal background to go for Engineering, Medical, Nursing Humanities and Languages and other degree courses in reputed colleges across the country with the government bearing all the expenses.
Reviewing the preparedness, Dr Samoon asked the AICTE, School Education, and Higher Education Department to work in close coordination to facilitate students in the process of admission, including choosing courses, appropriate colleges, and filing of documents. He called for encouraging maximum number of students to take admissions being offered in various streams. It was informed that this year 2830 seats are available for Engineering and other technical Degree courses, 2070 for general courses and 100 in Medical making it a total of 5000 seats. Referring to the previous year admission records, Dr Samoon stressed on intensive pre-admission counselling to motivate the aspirants for un-conventional and high-tech engineering courses like Aeronautical Engineering, Mechotronics (Robotic Engineering), Biotechnology engineering, Biomedical Engineering and like as these have huge market demand in the country and abroad. He also set the target for facilitating lateral entry of 1000 diploma engineers. The lateral entry was started only last year and over four hundred diploma engineers got admission under the scheme. He further stressed on AICTE for adopting innovative approach in scheme implementation, curbing delay in meeting students' complaints, if any and disbursement of scholarship, follow up measures to ensure congenial environment at the allotted colleges, organizing cluster level interaction seminars of the students and state authorities and parents to get feedback. He directed AICTE to also hold placement drives for the passouts.
It was informed in the meeting that the AICTE has already started preparatory work for the next academic session and 2 workshops at Jammu and Srinagar are being held on December 22, 2017 and December 24, 2017 respectively involving principals of all 10+2 schools accompanied by 1 Teacher to interact and discuss the admission procedure with representatives of AICTE, MHRD, UGC, Nursing Council of India, state authorities so that they can further motivate the girls and boys of their institutes for availing the opportunity.Meanwhile, it was also decided in the meeting to organize students’ interactive sessions at New Delhi on December 10, 2017 , Pune- on Dec 5, Bangalore- on Dec 17, Chandigarh -on January 9, 2018 and Jaipur on Jan 12 which would be attended by the Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Education and state authorities to get feedback from the students already studying in the colleges there.