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Government prepares for single entrance test for engineering courses

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Despite opposition from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), the Centre has started preparation for organising a single entrance test for engineering courses from next year. However, the final call will be taken by the Human Resource and Development (HRD) minister of the next government.

The ministry of HRD wants a national aptitude test as an engineering entrance exam for students aspiring to get admission in engineering colleges. This single entrance exam will be designed on the lines of the all India medical entrance test.

The government believes that a single entrance test would make students focus on one exam instead of many. "To give students more time for preparation instead losing time travelling around the country to sit in the many entrance exams, the government is mulling on the several options received from experts," said a senior official of the ministry of HRD. "Single common entrance test is one of the options. If the proposal of single entrance exam is accepted then there will no need for the IIT Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) or for state level engineering entrance exams."

Sources in the HRD ministry, however, said any decision to hold single entrance exam will be taken by the next government. "The next HRD minister will consult all stakeholders including the IITs to arrive at a consensus on the issue. It will be a big challenge for him or her," he said.

The idea of single common entrance test for engineering was first proposed in 2012 by then HRD minister Kapil Sibal. He had said candidates aspiring for IIT admission and in other central institutes such as the National Institute of Technology (NIT) and Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) will have to sit for a common entrance test which will also take their plus two board results into consideration. However, Sibal's decision to have a common entrance test could not take off because of opposition from IITs.

Currently, Central Board of Secondary Education conducts what is called the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for IITs, NITs, IIITs, other centrally-funded technical institutions besides institutions funded by participating state governments. Apart from the JEE, several states hold separate entrance tests for admission to institutes run by them.

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