Bengal education secretary Manish Jain on Saturday said a centralised online admission system would be introduced at the undergraduate level from the 2024-25 academic year.
Preparations to roll out the mechanism have begun, Jain added.
Till last year, a candidate applying for an undergraduate course was required to log into the websites or portals of various colleges separately.
Under the new mechanism, an undergraduate aspirant can apply to multiple colleges by logging into a single portal instead of visiting the admission portals of individual institutions.
This system seeks to curb the interference of student unions of respective colleges in the admission processes.
“The system will be like what is followed by the state joint entrance examination board for admission to the BTech programmes through a centralised online portal,” said an official of the education department.
Jain told reporters on the sideline of a higher education conclave on Saturday: “As we had introduced the four-year undergraduate programme at the last minute, this led to a complete overhaul of the (undergraduate) seat matrix. Therefore, we thought that instead of last year, we would introduce it this year (the 2024-25 academic session) after making thorough preparations. The exercise is in the process.”
In April 2023, the department issued a notification announcing the start of a centralised online admission system at the undergraduate level from the 2023-24 academic year.
However, education minister Bratya Basu in late May announced that the admission process at the undergraduate level would not be through a centralised system but through online portals at the institutional level.
An official said the introduction of the four-year undergraduate programme entailed many changes as undergraduate courses now include major subjects, discipline-specific core courses, minor subjects, ability enhancement courses, skill enhancement courses and value-added courses.
“We had to know from the colleges what they are offering under the various subject bouquets and then structure the portal accordingly so the undergraduate aspirants could lock their choices after a thorough study,” the official said.
Sources in the education department said Jadavpur and Presidency universities are going to be kept out of the purview of the centralised online system as they conduct tests to screen students for admission to their undergraduate level.
Autonomous colleges, minority institutions, training colleges, law colleges, colleges/universities offering courses in fine arts and performing arts, crafts, dance and music and self-financing/private colleges, too, would be out of the purview of the centralised admission system.
In February 2023, the department set up a 10-member committee under the West Bengal State Council of Higher Education for the implementation of the centralised system.
“The committee is still at work to come up with a foolproof system. It is a huge logistical exercise,” said an official.
Shyamalendu Chatterjee, president of the All Bengal Principal Council, said: “There was an urgent need to introduce the centralised online system, considering the demand for uniformity and transparency in the admission system across colleges.”
