The government is hopeful of conducting the first common entrance exam for entry to all colleges and universities in the country by 2013. The proposed exam will, in one go, test aspirants for all undergraduate (UG) courses, thereby ending the era of multiple examinations for admission to higher education institutions.
This hope was voiced by Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal in Parliament today when he was engaging with Lok Sabha members before the passage of the National Institute of Technology (Amendment) Bill 2010 which will make amendments the NIT Act 2007 to include five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research at Kolkata, Pune, Mohali, Bhopal and Thiruvanthapuram as institutes of national importance.
Discussing the way forward for higher education reforms, Sibal said, “I hope to have a common entrance exam for entry to the university system in 2013.”
The minister added that the proposed exam would have two components to assess students for their core skills - results of Class XII exams and results of a SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test is a standardised exam for admission to colleges in the US) type exam.
