The State government should think of a single common entrance test for medical, engineering, nursing, management and other professional courses to address confusion and problems faced by students as they are forced to appear for many entrance tests, academician Athani Veeranna said on Sunday.
Inaugurating a one-day Education Fair-2013, organised by The New Indian Express, Kannada Prabha and 6reves.com at Indian Medical Association Hall here on Sunday, he said that students face entrance examinations such as CET, COMED-K to get admission to professional courses and separate examinations by deemed universities.
He said that instead of these examinations, a single entrance test should be held for all the courses.
The youth are the future of the nation and for them to be strong, they should change their learning habits to suit the competitive world, he said. Since the 21st century belongs to India and China, the youth force in India has to be strong, Veeranna said.
In Karnataka, there are 98,000 engineering seats in 190 colleges, whereas there are only 82,000 eligible students, Veeranna pointed out.
Girls should shed their inhibition and become more aggressive to pursue education, said Dr Shashikala Krishnamurthy, vice-principal of S S Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, who was the chief guest.
Shashikala said instead of forcing children to take courses that parents like, the option should be left to the youngsters.
Starting this year, The New Indian Express and Kannada Prabha will jointly hold the education fair every year, said L N Murthy, manager of the Express group Shimoga region.
Yuvaraj, Education head of 6reves.com, which is another organiser of the event, urged the students to visit all the stalls at the fair.