‘Professional Courses May Start Only In November’
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai:26.05.2021
If Class XII board exams are held in July-end or in August, depending on the pandemic situation, career consultants say admissions to undergraduate courses will be pushed to September like last year.
Admissions to professional courses such as MBBS and BE, BTech are likely only by October as the National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test (NEET) scheduled for August 1 is likely to be postponed.
The school education department held a meeting with officials on conducting Class XII board exams and entrance exams on Tuesday. "We have drafted suggestions on conducting Class XII board exams. After discussing with the chief minister M K Stalin, we will forward it to the Centre," school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi told reporters after the meeting.
Asked if there would be changes to the board exam pattern in view of the pandemic, the minister said no state governments wanted any changes.
Career consultant Jayaprakash Gandhi said professional courses may start only in November. “Conducting board exams online is ruled out. If board exams are conducted in August, then the NEET exam will be postponed to September. The admission process will take place in October and academic year will start only in November for professional courses," he said. As a result, there may not be a gap between two semesters, which may impact students learning additional skills and going for internship, he added.
.For arts and science courses, the classes for UG students will only start in September, said Thomas Amirtham, principal of Loyola College. "We may need to have a separate academic calendar for first year students. Colleges may have to extend the academic year and scrap the summer holidays," he added.
Consultants said delay in starting the academic year also would affect the students planning to go abroad for higher studies.
"Foreign universities have only one intake in September or October for medicine. If NEET is delayed, the counselling process may go on till January next year. Last year, many students have to change their plans to go abroad after delay in medical counselling," said R Sureshkumar, managing director, Truematics Overseas Education Consultancy in Chennai.
A majority of students travel abroad to study engineering, management and arts courses only at the postgraduate level. Since the universities are planning to wind up the online exams by July, there will not be a problem for these students, he added.
The school education department held a meeting with officials on conducting Class XII board exams and entrance exams on Tuesday.
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