States not ready for engg CET

Remain reluctant to include non-Central colleges

The common entrance test to be conducted in 2013 will not cover all the engineering colleges in the country as the states are reluctant to adopt the system for the institutions functioning under them.

Although the state education ministers gave “in-principle” approval to the CET at a meeting here on Wednesday, the uncertainty over all the states’ participation even in the 2014 test continues, as many of them stressed on “wider consultations” before its countrywide implementation.

The Human Resource Development Ministry, which is determined to go ahead with its proposal in 2013, said the test would be introduced next year for admissions to technical institutions coming under its ambit.

This means the 2013 test will only cover 15 IITs, 30 NITs, four IITs, five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) and a few deemed universities, that come under the ambit of the HRD Ministry. “The proposal for a common national examination with effect from 2013 with weightage to state Board results, normalised on the basis of percentiles formula,

was endorsed in principle by the states,” Union Human  Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said after the meeting.

The proposed test will be conducted twice in 2013—first in April-May and second in November-December. The scores of each test, which will be of two parts—Main and Advanced—will be valid for a period of two years.

Gradual increase

The frequency of the examination will be gradually increased later.  “It may be conducted three or four times in a year so that candidates can improve their scores,” Sibal said.

The states may decide on adopting this pattern of test for admission to engineering institutions functioning under them with appropriate weightages as they may deem fit, the Union Minister proposed.

At the meeting, the HRD Ministry tried to persuade the State education ministers for adopting the system. It was clarified to them that the reform would not, in any way, affect reservations followed by states and the Centre.

The ministry also clarified that states could adopt their own weightages for their respective Board marks and the national examinations for admission to State-level institutions.

“While the proposal for 40 per cent weightage for central engineering institutions will be mandatory, states could adopt 100 per cent weightage for their respective Board results as it is in Tamil Nadu, which would not be disturbed by the proposed arrangement,” Sibal said. He also said that the details for the common examination process would be finalised in the next two months in consultation with states before it is placed at the meeting of the Central Advisory Board on Education.

The union Minister said the proposed test would be conducted in English and Hindi but if States intend to use examination for admission to engineering institutions functioning under them, the examination could be conducted in the regional languages of the states concerned.

While the management and conduct of the 2013 test would be the responsibility of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the academic component of its Main and Advanced examinations would be handled by IITs.