AICTE Maths Physics Row: Subjects Still Important for a Majority of Engineering Streams says Anil Sahasrabudhe

After the AICTE Maths Physics issue captured headlines, Anil Sahasrabudhe, chairman of the All India Council of Technical Education has clarified that the subjects continue to be important for students hoping to secure admission into engineering.”The news that mathematics and physics is not required for engineering is not correct. Many programs still require mathematics as one of the most important ingredients for engineering education followed by physics and then chemistry. Mathematics, physics, and chemistry, in that order, still continue to be important inputs for engineering education,” he said.

The AICTE chairman has had to issue this clarification after various reports on AICTE maths physics went viral. The reports had stated that mathematics and physics were not important r mandatory for students who wish to take engineering as a career. A majority of engineering streams continue to require these subjects except for some streams like Biotechnology or Textile engineering, said Sahasrabudhe.

“There may be some subjects like computer science engineering for which advanced statistics or computer programming may be more important than chemistry. We have brought this is in the AICTE Approval Process Handbook 2021-22 after a lot of deliberation as flexibility has been allowed by the New Education Policy 2020,” clarified the AICTE chairman in a virtual conference call. Furthermore, various state governments through Common entrance test (CET), or JEE will continue to take examinations in mathematics, physics and chemistry.

“What we have done through the AICTE Approval Process Handbook 2021-22 is create a new opportunity or window for students who may not have taken mathematics, physics or chemistry to seek admission into engineering colleges. There is a subtle difference between the two, which has to be noted,” said the AICTE chairman while reiterating that mathematics and physics continue to be important subjects.