89 engg applicants failed Class 12: DoTE

CHENNAI: As they sifted through the applications filed by engineering aspirants for the coming academic year, officials from the Directorate of Technical Education found a startling fact: it is not just the bright and the brilliant, but even those who fared poorly – including several who did not even pass Class 12 – were among the applicants.

After the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admission (TNEA) process commenced in July, more than 1.6 lakh students had applied online, and 1.15 lakh among them uploaded original certificates. While verifying the certificates online, DoTE officials were shocked to note that as many as 89 students who failed Class 12 board exams were among the applicants.

Besides them, there were many who applied for engineering seats despite failing to obtain minimum eligibility mark. As per the eligibility criteria fixed by TNEA, general category aspirants should score at least 45 per cent in Class 12 while it is 40 per cent for those from the reserved categories.

“We found that 163 applicants who enrolled online do not meet the eligibility criteria to apply for any engineering course,” said a senior DoTE official. There were 255 students who did not upload mandatory certificates such as mark sheets of Classes 10, 11 and 12. “How come these candidates, who uploaded other documents like transfer certificate, Aadhaar card and other documents, failed to submit mark sheets alone,” the official wondered.

In all, 2,682 applications were rejected for not producing or uploaded valid certificates, including about 1,000 students who failed to produce nativity and eligibility certificates as proof of them coming in the reservation categories. Till last year, the certificates were verified manually. Due to this, those who failed Class 12 or were not eligible for admission for various other reasons did not come to the facilitation centres as they knew their candidature would be summarily rejected, pointed out the official. “However, as certificate verification was done online this year, ineligible students tried giving false information in the application, which is against the admission rules and norms,” he added.