AICTE Approves Single Entrance Exam for Engineering Admissions from 2018

Following a directive by HRD minister Prakash Javadekar, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) on Tuesday approved a regulation to hold a single entrance exam for admission to all engineering colleges in India from next year.

AICTE, which is the statutory body and a national-level council for technical education, will implement a comprehensive package where 250 crore would be spent.

The single national test, which is being introduced for improving engineering education across the country, will be a part of this package, as per sources.

Once implemented, it will be mandatory for every state to follow the single entrance test and the ones that refuse to do so, will lose the AICTE approval.

“The AICTE has come up with the regulation following a directive by HRD minister Prakash Javadekar. It will now be sent to the ministry for an approval. After that a gazette notification will be issued,” a source said.

However, students will have to clear the JEE-Advanced after taking the engineering entrance exam to get admission in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

A senior official said, “The AICTE has been advised to ensure that the examination process is standardised keeping in view the linguistic diversity of the country. The test will also be conducted multiple times every year.”

“The aim is to make the process more transparent, standardised, and free of corruption and commercialisation,” a government official said.

As per sources, the AICTE has also directed institutes to go for induction courses, yearly revision of curriculum and teacher training through SWAYAM (The Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds.

SWAYAM is a government initiative to making the best teaching learning resources available to all, including underprivileged, by bridging the digital divide.

With inputs from hindustantimes.com