As per media reports, the All India Council for Technical Education has released the new academic calendar for 2021-22. As per the academic calendar released, the last date for students to complete the first round of engineering counseling until August 31, 2021. The dates mentioned in the AICTE 2021-22 academic year have surprised the colleges and exports with many of the boards postponing the Class 12 Examinations considering the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reports suggest that as per the dates mentioned on the AICTE academic Calendar, the last date for the colleges to conduct the second round of counseling is September 9, 2021, while the classes for the first-year students will commence on September 15, 2021.
Considering the class 12 board exams are conducted in June 2021 it will take a minimum of two months for the declaration of the examination results and the release of the application form and conducting the counseling procedure for Engineering seats.
Expert opinion on Academic Calendar
Jayprakash Gandhi – A career Consultant stated that the entire academic year might get postponed due to the pandemic. He added that even in the previous year the academic year has to be changed many times and should have waited for the situation to come under control and completion of the exams. There is still no clarity on when the exams will be conducted and how the answer sheets will be evaluated. He also pointed out that the AICTE should have released the academic calendar during the Class 12 examinations. The council gave colleges time until November 30 to complete the counseling process last year due to the pandemic.
College notes on the academic calendar
A principal of a Private college stated that the present schedule has been prepared without keeping the pandemic in mind. He stated that the AICTE has issued the regular academic calendar for admissions and given the current situation the academic calendar may be revised many times.
The Council has also extended the last date for the grant of affiliation by the University until July 15, 2021, and as per the usual schedule, the universities need to give affiliation by May 15, 2021. Sources from the university have stated that it will conduct a physical inspection of colleges before granting affiliation for 2021-22 and as of now, there is no change in the decision.