Academicians disagree with govt plans to do away with entrance test; say it should be bettered, not scrapped
Academicians disagree with govt plans to do away with entrance test; say it should be bettered, not scrapped
The government has hinted at scrapping the Common Entrance Test for professional courses but academicians, including the CET designer feel it should stay.
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Medical education minister Ramachandra Gowda said on Tuesday that the government was looking at scrapping CET for engineering and medical colleges. The test has already been scrapped for dental, homoeopathy and Indian medicine courses.
Dhananjay, who is director (technical)u00a0 of JSS Mahavidapeetha, Mysore, said: "I had designed it along with admiral Vasant and then director of technical education, Satyendra Shetty. The model was a success and replicated in other states. It is still a success, I don't think it should be scrapped," he said.
Dhananjay feels the CET should be bettered, not scrapped. One way was the introduction of aptitude tests.
"Malpractice ruled PUC examinations then but those problems have been solved. The questions in the CET are mostly a repetition of the PUC exams. So, now aptitude questions should be introduced," he said.
Besides, "the Supreme court has ruled that any one entrance test should be held for admissions. Even if CET is scrapped, there are other tests which students will have to take like Comed-K, AIEEE or IIT-JEE," he said.
Former vice-chancellor of Vishweshwarayya Technological University (VTU) Balaveer Reddy also wants the CET to stay. "The government scrapped CET for dental and some other courses saying that the number of
applicants was much less than the vacancies. This is not the case with engineering and medical streams. The government can divide seats into government and management seats, but can't stop the test," he said.
Reddy feels there should be a ranking system to ensure that students get colleges of their choice. "CET gives a ranking based on which students can choose colleges and even streams. If we have to go by only PUC marks, how can we ensure that the best students get colleges/courses they want?"
Reddy seconds the concept of aptitude tests. "Karnataka CET is considered the best among all the state CETs.
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We could improve it with aptitude testsu00a0 like we have for the architecture entrance courses."
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