The budget declaration that the Union Government is planning to constitute a National Examination Agency for holding entrance examinations for IIT and medical colleges has drawn positive response from the teachers and students. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely in his budget speech on Wednesday declared that agency would be the in-charge of conducting all entrance examinations for higher education in the country. The aim of the Government is to free the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) from the cumbersome task of holding the entrance examinations of medical and engineering. At present the CBSE is assigned the task of conducting National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission in the medical and dental colleges of the country and the AICTE is responsible for conducting the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) entrance examination. The mandate of both CBSE and AICTE is to control and enhance school education and technical education in the country respectively.
The move of the Government to constitute a separate agency for conducting medical and engineering entrance examination is set to usher in a big change in the academic scenario as holding of multiple examinations in different parts of the country creates problems for the students. The managing director of a coaching institute here, Manu Pant said that the government has taken a step in right direction by deciding to constitute an agency for medical and engineering entrance examination. He said that the move would standardise the examination pattern all over the country. “At present the parents remain confused and are of the view that they should change the board of their wards and migrate to CBSE in class XII as it conducts the entrance examination. This confusion would be removed now,’’ Pant said. The school teachers also sounded positive about the move. “The objective behind the move is good as it would reduce the burden of examinations from the shoulders of the CBSE and AICTE. It would give time and space to these bodies to focus more on improving academic milieu,’’ said D S Negi, principal of Kendriya Vidhyalaya ONGC.
The president of a society engaged in student education and women empowerment Mona Randhawa said that the government should adopt a uniform syllabus pattern in all the education boards and the step of constitution of an agency for medical and engineering entrance examination should be welcomed by all. The parents sounded cautious in their response. Anju Rawat a resident of Defence colony said that the steps to ease pressure from the students should be taken. She added that many examination bodies create confusion in the students and more money in form of examination fees is spent if the children apply for them.