BENGALURU: A single entrance test for admission to undergraduate engineering courses is unlikely to be introduced from the 2018-19 academic year.
Although the proposal for a pan-India entrance exam is before the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) since two years, it has not materialised so far.
One of the major reasons for the delay is that some states have not updated their syllabus for Class 10 and 12 for 10 years. If the single entrance test is mooted, students from such states won’t be able to compete with students from other states.
“Tamil Nadu, for example, has not updated its syllabus for both Class 10 and Class 12 from the last 10 years,” say AICTE authorities.
The 2018-19 academic year will be grace period for states to update the syllabus as discussions are going on to introduce the single exam from 2019-20. Confirming this, AICTE chairman Dr Anil Sahasrabudhe said, “Talks are going on with the CBSE to take up the responsibility of conducting the entrance test and it will be finalised soon.”
According to Sahasrabudhe, the introduction of a single entrance test will help improve the quality of technical education. “In the present system, candidates who have secured 35% to 40% in the entrance exams are getting admissions to under graduate engineering courses. But once the single entrance test is introduced, there will be competition at national level,” he said.
JEE might be converted in to a single test
Discussions are being held on converting the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) conducted for admissions to Indian Institutes of Technology into a single entrance test. When asked, the AICTE chairman did not rule out the option and said, “Nothing is final. Discussions are going on and there is a possibility of JEE becoming a single entrance test.”
Most states demand single entrance test
Most states except a few have demanded a single entrance exam for engineering courses. AICTE officials say “A few states like West Bengal are opposing it. Except from that, the students community, teachers and academicians are demanding the introduction of a single entrance exam.”