New Delhi, Jul 20: The Government has decided in principle to hold a common entrance examination for admission to all medical colleges across the country from the next academic session.
The in-principle decision to hold a single Joint Medical Entrance test was taken at a meeting of Health ministry officials, the Board of Governors of the Medical Council of India and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) held here on Monday.
While the Health Ministry was represented at the meeting by the Health Secretary, the CBSE was represented by its chairman Vineet Joshi.
“We want to hold such a common entrance test and we are consulting with different stakeholders involved,” Health Secretary K Chandramouli told PTI confirming the decision.
Member of the Medical Council of India Board of Governors Purshotam Lal also confirmed the in-principle decision and said that “the MCI would soon evolve the curriculum for the common entrance exam”.
Lal said, “we would put the curriculum on the MCI website to seek the comments of the public”.
Officials said there was a need to hold a single joint Entrance test for admission to all medical colleges, including private ones, as students aspiring to become doctors currently had to give several different entrance examinations, which led to high stress levels. There was sometimes a clash of exam dates also.
As per the in-principle decision for the common test, which states like Tamil Nadu have opposed in the past, the exam will be conducted by the CBSE while the MCI will develop the curricula for the same.
The common exam, it is learnt, will be for all government and private medical colleges including top medical institutes like AIIMS.
Close to ten lakh students take the common medical entrance exam in India annually, for admission to 330 medical colleges across the country.
The modalities for holding the exam are being worked out, said Health Ministry officials, adding the implications of holding such a common exam at a big level are also being studied. PTI
