Studied Arts, Commerce Forget about architecture

A recent decision by the Council of Architecture will make admissions to the course out of reach for students from the arts and commerce stream as the council has made mathematics, physics and chemistry a compulsory requisite for getting admission to the degree course. As per the council’s recent Minimum Standards of Architectural Education Regulations, 2015 the decision will become applicable from the academic year 2018 onwards and science stream at the 10+2 level with the three subjects is the required qualification for architecture studies.

Dr Rajiv Mishra, dean, JJ School of Architecture said the decision to implement the criteria from 2018 onwards was intended to make students studying in class X this year decide upon the choice of their vocation from this year itself. “A student intending to pursue a degree in architecture will have to plan well in advance and take admission to the science course after SSC. This will, however, not suffice as the student will have to appear for the prescribed aptitude test based on scores of which seats are allotted in colleges,” said Dr Mishra.

Former University of Mumbai senate member Pradeep Sawant from Yuva Sena said the decision was anti-student. “The decision of the council is shocking and we will be protesting against it and demanding the withdrawal of the eligibility clause from the regulations. If the council does not respond favourably we will launch an aggressive campaign against it,” said Mr Sawant.

Under the eligibility criteria, the council has mentioned ‘No candidate, other than a candidate possessing 50% marks in aggregate and with Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry as subjects of examination at the end of 10+2 scheme of Senior School of Certificate Examination or equivalent examination, shall be admitted to the architecture course .’

The aptitude test in Architecture shall consist of two papers namely: Aesthetic Sensitivity that will be of 100 marks and has to be attempted in an hour while the second paper will be drawing that will also carry 100 marks for a duration of two hours.