KOCHI/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Union human resource minister Kapil Sibal
on Tuesday expressed hope that Kerala will accept the proposed
pan-India common entrance test (CET) for admission to engineering and
medical courses.
Several states including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra and Gujarat, have already agreed to the CET. "West Bengal has said that it would join by 2015. Institutions like NIT, IIT, IIIT and Central universities have already agreed to be part of it," he said in Angamaly.
Sibal said 98% of the deemed universities have expressed interest in joining the CET.Several states including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra and Gujarat, have already agreed to the CET. "West Bengal has said that it would join by 2015. Institutions like NIT, IIT, IIIT and Central universities have already agreed to be part of it," he said in Angamaly.
When asked, state education minister P K Abdu Rabb said the cabinet
would discuss whether to join the CET within two weeks, and communicate
its decision to the Centre.
The HRD ministry proposed the CET for admissions to all medical and engineering colleges, including IITs, NITs and IIITs. The proposal was made to save students from the burden of attending too many entrance exams for admission to the same discipline.
Plus-II students in the country have been sitting for several entrance examinations annually. India has 14.86 lakh engineering seats in 3,393 colleges, including the 15 IITs, 30 NITs, four IIITs and five IISERs, apart from colleges in the states and Union Territories.
For MBBS aspirants, there are 17 tests to fill 30,000 seats in 271 medical colleges across the country.
If the state were to accept the proposal, it would mean that a student can get admission anywhere in the country for undergraduate programmes, he need not write separate exams for each state or institution, and it cuts down the expenses on examination fees. However, there are some drawbacks as well. For instance, will state students be able to compete against the all-India population, and if Plus-II marks carry weightage, what about students appearing for state boards. The normalisation of the Plus-II marks and entrance exam percentage could also be tricky.
Akash tablet for every student in five years
Infrastructure of the virtual world is as important as physical infrastructure, said Sibal, adding that the UPA government is aiming to network 2,50,000 gramapanchayats across the country through the national fibre optic network (NFON).
"The last mile connectivity will be done through broadband," he said.
Speaking after inaugurating the FISAT science congress on the college campus off Kochi on Tuesday, Sibal said that data will flow at the speed of sound and bring information at the click of a button for farmers who want to know where to fish and when to sow seeds.
Meanwhile, every child in the country will have an Akash tablet costing Rs 1,500 within the next five years, Sibal added. The Akash-2 will have a one gigahertz processor with a battery life of four hours, while Akash-3 will have a sim card.
Expressing happiness at seeing so many girl students opting for engineering, Sibal lauded the state. "In no other state will you see so many girl engineering students," he said. Earlier, he laid the foundation stone for FISAT science & technology park and research centre.
State education minister P K Abdu Rabb laid the foundation stone for the FISAT decennial building, while P C Chacko MP inaugurated the women's hostel and K P Dhanapalan inaugurated the training centre for challenged children.
Asked about the allegations being raised by India against corruption (IAC), HRD minister Kapil Sibal said, "Everyday they raise allegations, and like 24x7 channels, they have become corruption allegations 24x7."
The HRD ministry proposed the CET for admissions to all medical and engineering colleges, including IITs, NITs and IIITs. The proposal was made to save students from the burden of attending too many entrance exams for admission to the same discipline.
Plus-II students in the country have been sitting for several entrance examinations annually. India has 14.86 lakh engineering seats in 3,393 colleges, including the 15 IITs, 30 NITs, four IIITs and five IISERs, apart from colleges in the states and Union Territories.
For MBBS aspirants, there are 17 tests to fill 30,000 seats in 271 medical colleges across the country.
If the state were to accept the proposal, it would mean that a student can get admission anywhere in the country for undergraduate programmes, he need not write separate exams for each state or institution, and it cuts down the expenses on examination fees. However, there are some drawbacks as well. For instance, will state students be able to compete against the all-India population, and if Plus-II marks carry weightage, what about students appearing for state boards. The normalisation of the Plus-II marks and entrance exam percentage could also be tricky.
Akash tablet for every student in five years
Infrastructure of the virtual world is as important as physical infrastructure, said Sibal, adding that the UPA government is aiming to network 2,50,000 gramapanchayats across the country through the national fibre optic network (NFON).
"The last mile connectivity will be done through broadband," he said.
Speaking after inaugurating the FISAT science congress on the college campus off Kochi on Tuesday, Sibal said that data will flow at the speed of sound and bring information at the click of a button for farmers who want to know where to fish and when to sow seeds.
Meanwhile, every child in the country will have an Akash tablet costing Rs 1,500 within the next five years, Sibal added. The Akash-2 will have a one gigahertz processor with a battery life of four hours, while Akash-3 will have a sim card.
Expressing happiness at seeing so many girl students opting for engineering, Sibal lauded the state. "In no other state will you see so many girl engineering students," he said. Earlier, he laid the foundation stone for FISAT science & technology park and research centre.
State education minister P K Abdu Rabb laid the foundation stone for the FISAT decennial building, while P C Chacko MP inaugurated the women's hostel and K P Dhanapalan inaugurated the training centre for challenged children.
Asked about the allegations being raised by India against corruption (IAC), HRD minister Kapil Sibal said, "Everyday they raise allegations, and like 24x7 channels, they have become corruption allegations 24x7."
Kerala will also have to come around to the plan of a common entrance
test (CET) for engineering and medicine as most of the states and
institutions have already agreed to join in, said Kapil Sibal, Union
minister for human resource development in Kochi on Tuesday.
Answering a query on Kerala not agreeing to the CET, Kapil Sibal said that lots of states have agreed to join including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra and Gujarat. "West Bengal has said that it would join in by 2015. Institutions like NIT, IIT, IIIT and Central universities have already agreed to be part of it," he said.
Kapil Sibal said that 98 percent of the deemed universities have expressed their interest in joining the CET while interacting with press persons on the sidelines after the inauguration of FISAT science congress at the college campus in Angamaly.
When asked about what he thought of the poor results in the UGC-NET, Kapil Sibal said that it had not been brought to his notice and hence was not aware of it.
Answering a query on Kerala not agreeing to the CET, Kapil Sibal said that lots of states have agreed to join including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra and Gujarat. "West Bengal has said that it would join in by 2015. Institutions like NIT, IIT, IIIT and Central universities have already agreed to be part of it," he said.
Kapil Sibal said that 98 percent of the deemed universities have expressed their interest in joining the CET while interacting with press persons on the sidelines after the inauguration of FISAT science congress at the college campus in Angamaly.
When asked about what he thought of the poor results in the UGC-NET, Kapil Sibal said that it had not been brought to his notice and hence was not aware of it.
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