Sibal Pitches for Common Engineering, Medical Test

Union Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal has pitched for uniform entrance test for admission into higher educational institutions, said media reports.

The minister said that the CBSE, a premier school education board under the HRD ministry, would merge the All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE) and All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMP) to start with, reports said.

The merger of AIEEE and AIPMT is expected to help students very much as question papers for physics and chemistry will be common for both the tests, while the third questions paper will be of mathematics for engineering entrance and that of biology for medical entrance test.

Addressing the Education Ministers’ Conference, Sibal said that his Ministry was presently debating whether it is possible to have one common exam after class XII that will test general awareness and aptitude, said reports.

The universities will give weightage to the Class-XII marks and entrance marks of students while giving admission.

For entrance to institutions, class XII marks and this test could be the criteria. The marks of different Boards could be equalised through a mathematical formula for weightage.

This will give an opportunity to children from economically weaker sections who are not able to avail of coaching and get through the current system of entrance exams.

The minister said that as the current system is being seen as unfair for the poor and the under privileged, this new system was just being debated, reports said.

“We are trying to prepare a system under which students will not have to appear in exam after exam,” he was quoted as saying.

The Council of Boards of School Education (COBSE) has already prepared a common curriculum in science and mathematics.

Sibal said that the state boards should adopt the curriculum which would help in holding a common entrance test, said reports.

(Based on internet reports)