From Academic Year 2018-19, Govt. To Conduct Single Entrance Exam For Engineering Colleges

Every year the competition in India for college admission increases. As of 2018, In order to keep the process fair and organized, the government has decided to issue a uniform entrance examination for all undergraduate engineering and architecture courses.

As of this latest order, the government has directed the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to enforce suitable regulations under the AICTE Act. “AICTE is advised to ensure that the testing process is standardized keeping in view the linguistic diversity of the country. The test shall also be conducted multiple times every year,” the order stated.

While gaining admission to all medical colleges (excluding AIIMS and JIPMER) requires standardized testing, the government has also implemented the same with multiple specialized undergraduate courses.

The genius behind the idea is to keep the process as transparent as possible. Every year, the CBSE conducts the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) for admission into engineering colleges, and now, this proposed JEE will begin from 2018 onwards.

The test shall be conducted numerous times throughout the year, as is the case with other standardized admission tests like the SAT and ACT in the US, and is intended to provide academic uniformity and reduce the influence of donations/bribery. However, this test does exclude IIT’s which will continue to hold their own entrance examinations. Unlike private and state colleges, IIT’s are not seen to be influenced by fluctuating standards and admission processes.

According to a HRD official, “The admission for IITs will continue as per the present scheme. IITs will conduct the joint entrance examination (advanced). Students who qualify JEE (mains) can appear for the JEE (advanced) examination. Approximately 2,00,000 students qualify to appear for JEE (advanced) examination,” reported Outlook India.

This new exam is seen to be in “accordance with the policy of the government to improve standards and the quality of engineering education” and will be implemented next year.

Currently, many states conduct their own engineering examination or admissions are based on Class XII marks. Engineering colleges in five states use the score obtained in JEE (mains) as the basis for admission. There are around three thousand and three hundred engineering colleges across twenty-seven states, with most of them in Tamil Nadu (five hundred and twenty-seven), followed by Maharashtra (three hundred and seventy- two), Andhra Pradesh (three hundred and twenty-eight), Uttar Pradesh (two hundred and ninety-five) and Madhya Pradesh (two hundred and eleven).

The ministry has requested that all state governments along with their residing universities are to “communicate their constructive suggestions for smooth implementation of the regulation. It may also be useful to request as many institutions as possible to come under a joint seat-allocation system for a more efficient seat allocation process.”

The Ministry of Human Resource Development has also requested all state governments and deemed universities to come under this joint-seat allocation. Interestingly, they have also decided that marks from Class XII will not be factored for the rankings of the JEE and for admissions into undergraduate engineering courses.

“After examining the Ashok Mishra Committee’s report and public feedback, MHRD has decided on a few changes in the JEE pattern for 2017. The present system of allotting 40 per cent weightage to Class XII marks for determining ranks in JEE shall be dispensed with. Class XII scores will be a crucial parameter only for determining the eligibility criteria for the exam,” an official reported.

However, the new exam carries quite the exclusivity, as students must have seventy-five percent marks or higher (or be in the top twentieth percentile) of their Class XII examinations. Even though the new exam leaves some leeway for Class XII students, in order to qualify to take the exam, they must exhibit wit, perseverance and hard work with their high school classes.

The Logical Indian recognises the new standard examination as another opportunity for ambitious Grade XII students to prove their intelligence, hard work, and dedication to the fields that the wish to go into.