New Delhi: Days after the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) said that physics, chemistry and mathematics are no longer mandatory for admission to architecture courses, the body has now clarified that admission norms to B. Arch will be decided by the Council of Architecture (CoA).
A corrigendum, clarifying eligibility for architecture courses, was issued Thursday by Member Secretary of AICTE, Rajive Kumar.
Under the heading ‘Norms for Duration Entry Level Qualifications and Statutory Reservations of the Technical Programmes’ for architecture, the AICTE said – “As per norms of the Council of Architecture”. This section had earlier mentioned “nil” for mandatory courses at 10+2 level.
According to a notification issued by the CoA last year, physics, chemistry and mathematics are mandatory in Class 12 for seeking admission to B. Arch courses.
But in its handbook released Tuesday, the AICTE had removed the mandatory requirement of physics, chemistry and mathematics for admission to architecture courses.
“Architecture was erroneously placed under the list of subjects that do not require mandatory physics, chemistry and mathematics. The architecture council will decide the eligibility…About two years ago, CoA had suggested doing away with mandatory physics, chemistry and mathematics, but then they reversed their decision last year. If they decide to change it again, we do not want to be responsible for any kind of confusion on this matter,” said an AICTE official, who did not wish to be identified.
“CoA primarily gives the approval for architecture courses and decides eligibility for the programme. If a college wants to come to us even after the CoA approval, they can, but they do not need to necessarily come to AICTE. Hence the admission eligibility should also be decided by them,” he added.
After announcing last year that students who haven’t studied physics, chemistry or mathematics in Class 12 would now be able to seek admission to engineering and technology programmes — the AICTE, in this year’s approval process, identified the courses where this relaxation will apply to: architecture, fashion technology, and packaging technology. While architecture was ‘erroneously’ put in the list, the other two continue to remain there.
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