<p> Taking another step on its proposal to introduce a common entrance test for engineering courses, the government Wednesday held talks with state education ministers and said that they had ''in principle'' agreed to bringing in the new format.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Talking to reporters after a meeting with state education ministers, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said the states “in principle” agreed to the proposal. <br />“After detailed deliberations, 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 States,” Sibal said. <br /><br />Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Puducherry and West Bengal sought more time to study the details of the proposal, he said. <br /><br />The ministry, making a presentation on the proposal, said the reform would not, in any way, affect reservations followed by states and the central government. <br />Sibal also called upon the states to cooperate in introduction of the National Vocational Educational Qualification Framework to qualitatively upgrade vocational education across the country.<br /><br />The ministry also announced starting 100 community colleges on a pilot basis in 2012-13 and then scaling them up gradually.</p>
<p> Taking another step on its proposal to introduce a common entrance test for engineering courses, the government Wednesday held talks with state education ministers and said that they had ''in principle'' agreed to bringing in the new format.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Talking to reporters after a meeting with state education ministers, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said the states “in principle” agreed to the proposal. <br />“After detailed deliberations, 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 States,” Sibal said. <br /><br />Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Puducherry and West Bengal sought more time to study the details of the proposal, he said. <br /><br />The ministry, making a presentation on the proposal, said the reform would not, in any way, affect reservations followed by states and the central government. <br />Sibal also called upon the states to cooperate in introduction of the National Vocational Educational Qualification Framework to qualitatively upgrade vocational education across the country.<br /><br />The ministry also announced starting 100 community colleges on a pilot basis in 2012-13 and then scaling them up gradually.</p>