In its efforts to bring transparency to admission process in engineering course, the Centre is considering holding a single national level test for entrance to engineering colleges on the lines of the NEET examination in Medical colleges.
Earlier media reports said that the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) was contemplating making Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) the single entrance test for undergraduate engineering courses.
Presently, the Central Board of Secondary Education or CBSE conducts JEE for admissions to the premier IITs, National Institutes of Technology, Indian Institute of Information Technology and other centrally funded institutes.
The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) went through a rigorous judicial process before the Supreme Court finally made its compulsory for admissions to medical colleges.
NEET has replaced AIPMT and has been made mandatory for admissions in all-India medical/dental colleges which means no other state can conduct its separate medical entrance.
Now, the Union HRD ministry is considering holding a single national level test which will be sole criteria for admissions into engineering colleges.
Sources told PTI that advanced level consultations have been held on the matter in the Prakash Javadekar led ministry to make the JEE exam, a single national level entrance test.
The decision is expected to curb allegations of irregularities and bring transparency in admission process, the sources said.
"There have been some complaints in the past and the HRD ministry is keen to make system as transparent as possible," a senior official added.
The scores of the common test may be used for the single entrance test by various government and private engineering colleges, sources said.
However, the proposed test will only come into being from 2018 onwards, the sources added.
(With PTI inputs)
