JAMMU: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, today chaired a meeting of the Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (BOPEE) to take stock of its functioning regarding admissions to the professional courses being offered in colleges of Jammu and Kashmir. The meeting was attended by ACS Forest, Principal Secretary Higher Education, Commissioner Secretary GAD, Secretary Health, SIO NIC, besides Chairperson BOPEE, Controller of Examinations, BOPEE and other concerned officers both in person and virtually. The Chief Secretary had appraisal of the calendar of examinations and admissions made to the professional courses by the Board. He took serious note of the unfilled seats in the courses like B.Tech, MDS, M.Sc Nursing, DNB and others. Dulloo maintained that these professional colleges have requisite infrastructure and candidates desirous of taking admissions in such courses should be encouraged to study here. The Chief Secretary asked about the total intake capacity of these colleges and the remaining vacant proportion. He delved upon possible reasons for such vacancies and the way forward to fill these in future. He asked about the yearly recognition of degree courses in these colleges and exploration of the possibility to extend these to multiple years in the interest of students. He also asked about the status of recognition of B.Ed courses in government colleges. Regarding admissions made in B.E and B.Tech courses, the Chief Secretary advised for taking all possible steps to fill these vacancies in beginning of the academic year. He maintained that the reasons hindering admissions to the courses should be looked into seriously to enable local students secure admissions in our colleges offering such degrees. BOPEE Chairperson, Minu Mahajan, apprised the meeting of functioning of the board. She threw light on the courses and the response of students for each of them. She gave details about the seats being offered for admission by the board in counseling and the proportion of seats filled against offered ones. The Chairperson also highlighted the performance of the board in the past years. She highlighted the measures initiated by the board to make the admission process more transparent and time bound. She also pointed out some of the issues faced by the Board in its functioning.
