Centre postpones key meet amid JEE tussle

The central government has postponed a meeting of the nation’s highest education policy advisory body that was to decide on a combined entrance examination for all engineering colleges after the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) opposed a plan to scrap their 50-year-old joint entrance examination (JEE). The Central Advisory Board of Education’s (CABE’s) meeting was crucial to build consensus on a common entrance for all engineering colleges by merging IIT-JEE and All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE), and convince states on the need for a number of higher education reforms that are pending in Parliament before the second leg of the budget session begins on 24 April.

The IIT faculty and alumni associations have opposed the move in a meeting last week. According to a government circular, a copy of which has been reviewed by Mint, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has now postponed the meeting from 23 April to 6 June. “Looking at the JEE issue, it was felt that it is better to postpone the meeting to June,” said a ministry official, who declined to be named. “Unless you have something substantial on your plate, it won’t be fair to hold a high-level meet. The states are likely to question that since the central institutes such as IITs and NITs (National Institutes of Technology) are yet to come on board, there is no point getting state approval for a sensitive issue such as JEE,” the official said.

According to the circular, HRD minister Kapil Sibal also proposes to “hold education ministers’ conference to have wide ranging discussion on various issues concerning both sectors of education” on 5 June. Higher education reforms have made little progress in the past one year and at least a dozen draft Bills on education reforms are pending in Parliament. The ministry expected the CABE meeting, with representation from state education ministers, would help it garner crucial political support to push through the Bills.

The Educational Tribunal Bill, the unfair practices Bill, the National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER) Bill, the Right to Education (RTE) Amendment Bill are some of the key Bills that are awaiting the assent of lawmakers. While the unfair practices Bill aims to bring transparency in the education sector by curbing payment of donations or capitation fees by students for admissions, the tribunal Bill has provisions for setting up a quasi-judicial body that can speed up dispute resolution related to the sector. The NCHER Bill proposes to bring all the arms of higher education regulations such as University Grants Commission, All India Council for Technical Education and National Council For Teacher Education under one overarching body.

Himangshu R. Vaish, President of the IIT-Delhi Alumni Association and Managing Director of Instapower Ltd, said the ministry’ proposal will affect the IIT brand. “IITs are global brands because of quality students and faculty, and there is no need to take popular measures by putting quality at risk,” Vaish said. “If you go by the proposal, it will mess up the selection process at undergraduate level in IITs; what about the brand. The alumni association, which met Sunday, also decided to oppose any such attempt.”

Sanjiv Sanghi, head of faculty forum at IIT-Delhi, said that the faculty associations and senates of IITs have told the IIT Council and the ministry that they are working on a mutually acceptable proposal. “We understand that no system is perfect, but we will submit our proposal within a reasonable time,” Sanghi said. Another faculty member of IIT-Delhi said: “The ministry wants to be politically popular at the cost of IIT-JEE. Unless we have a tried and tested alternative, you can not impose a new format.” The faculty member declined to be named.

The ministry’s “plan to give 40% weight to class XII marks is unfair as this may dilute the quality of intake” as the process of normalization of education board results across states proposed by the MHRD are yet to be tested on a large scale. “The normalization of state board exam results is a difficult thing, IIT senates are not convinced,” the second faculty member said.

Every IIT has a senate comprising senior professors, and some invited experts such as those from the alumni and industry. Sibal had told reporters on 22 February that they are merging JEE and AIEEE from the academic year 2013.

Source: Mint, April 18, 2012

Common engineering test from 2013

If a proposal by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is accepted by states, a single entrance examination will land an engineering aspirant in an IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) or any of the street corner technical colleges that have mushroomed across in the country, from 2013. A countrywide common examination for admission to undergraduate programmes in engineering, as recommended by T. Ramasami committee, was discussed at length in the IIT Council meet on Wednesday.

A single test is something that students and parents want. On an average, an engineering aspirant takes three tests — IIT-JEE for IITs, AIEEE for NITs and the state test. “The burden of multiplicity of competitive examinations is causing immense stress, financial and otherwise on parents and students …. The proposal … will reduce dependency on coaching by aligning to Class 12 syllabus,” HRD minister Kapil Sibal said.

Weightage will be given to a student’s Class 12 board examinations scores after statistical normalisation of scores vis-à-vis performance of students from other boards — CBSE or state. Then a single national examination would be conducted to test aptitude and advanced domain knowledge.

Sibal said the proposal — to be finalised in a month — will be put before the Central Advisory Board for Education (CABE) and after taking the states on board, it will be implemented from 2013-14 academic year. States like Gujarat expressed are ready but have riders. “We are prepared to tune our +2 course with the National Curriculum Framework. But CET should include the IITs. We also want the CET to be conducted in Gujarati also,” Hasmukh Adhia, Principal Secretary, Higher Education, Gujarat told HT.

But officials, academicians from Andhra Pradesh — hub of engineering education in the country — expressed doubts. “Do we use the same weighing machine for both gold and iron? The approach and orientation to IITs is different. CET will put a large bunch of students in same bracket making it difficult to decide who should enter which institute,” a official said.

Source: Hindustan Times, September 15, 2011

Lack of funds hold up RTE implementation

Proper implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) may still take some time. The proposal of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to hike the Centres share of funds to 75% is stuck due to the Planning Commission. In the face of demands from the states for a higher contribution by the Centre and the analysis undertaken by the Anil Bordia Committee, the MHRD had prepared a note for the Expenditure Finance Committee outlining a new funding pattern for implementing the RTE, with the Centre shouldering 75% and the states 25% of the burden.

At present, the Centres share is at 55%. While other relevant ministries have signalled their willingness to consider a higher share for the Centre, the Planning Commission has not moved on the note. At the recently held state education ministers’ conference and the meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), states repeatedly said the Centre needs to shoulder a greater financial burden. The states have asked the Centre fork out as much as 90% of the cost.

The states argued that the Right to Education makes the state and local bodies accountable for the implementation, however neither has the financial capacity. Some states like Uttar Pradesh have charged that since the central government takes all the credit for the legislation, it should also ensure that funds are available. The reaction of the states has not come as bolt from the blue.

In pre-notification meetings held by the Bordia Committee, state government representatives made it clear that the states would require additional funds. Most states stressed that all additional costs resulting from the RTE should be borne by the Centre. Bihar, Delhi and Kerala suggested the funding pattern of 90:10 be adopted. Some states such as Jammu and Kashmir maintained that the entire cost should be borne by the Centre. The broad consensus was that states were willing to go along with the 60:40 ratio adopted in 2009-10 as the RTE would result in a huge financial liability for the states.

The Bordia Committee, set up by the MHRD to harmonise the “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan” and the RTE, suggested pegging the Centres share at 75%. The committee argued that sharing ratio of 55:45 (for the current year) and 50:50 (in 2011-12 ) would be unfavourable to the states as they would have to practically double their allocation.

It was found that at even at current sharing levels of 60:40 for the “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan” as many as 14 states defaulted on their shares. Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa are among the defaulters. Given the financial backlog and the ensuing infrastructural backlog, it is being suggested that the Centre should provide a higher share.

Some experts say that while a 75:25 sharing pattern would be ideal, given the economic downturn and its impact and the Rs. 25,000 crore (Rs. 250 billion) allocation to states by the Thirteenth Finance Commission, a sharing pattern of 65:35 would also be acceptable.

Source: The Economic Times, July 6, 2010 (Report by Urmi A. Goswami)

Lack of funds hold up RTE implementation

Proper implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) may still take some time. The proposal of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to hike the Centres share of funds to 75% is stuck due to the Planning Commission. In the face of demands from the states for a higher contribution by the Centre and the analysis undertaken by the Anil Bordia Committee, the MHRD had prepared a note for the Expenditure Finance Committee outlining a new funding pattern for implementing the RTE, with the Centre shouldering 75% and the states 25% of the burden.

At present, the Centres share is at 55%. While other relevant ministries have signalled their willingness to consider a higher share for the Centre, the Planning Commission has not moved on the note. At the recently held state education ministers’ conference and the meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), states repeatedly said the Centre needs to shoulder a greater financial burden. The states have asked the Centre fork out as much as 90% of the cost.

The states argued that the Right to Education makes the state and local bodies accountable for the implementation, however neither has the financial capacity. Some states like Uttar Pradesh have charged that since the central government takes all the credit for the legislation, it should also ensure that funds are available. The reaction of the states has not come as bolt from the blue.

In pre-notification meetings held by the Bordia Committee, state government representatives made it clear that the states would require additional funds. Most states stressed that all additional costs resulting from the RTE should be borne by the Centre. Bihar, Delhi and Kerala suggested the funding pattern of 90:10 be adopted. Some states such as Jammu and Kashmir maintained that the entire cost should be borne by the Centre. The broad consensus was that states were willing to go along with the 60:40 ratio adopted in 2009-10 as the RTE would result in a huge financial liability for the states.

The Bordia Committee, set up by the MHRD to harmonise the “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan” and the RTE, suggested pegging the Centres share at 75%. The committee argued that sharing ratio of 55:45 (for the current year) and 50:50 (in 2011-12 ) would be unfavourable to the states as they would have to practically double their allocation.

It was found that at even at current sharing levels of 60:40 for the “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan” as many as 14 states defaulted on their shares. Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa are among the defaulters. Given the financial backlog and the ensuing infrastructural backlog, it is being suggested that the Centre should provide a higher share.

Some experts say that while a 75:25 sharing pattern would be ideal, given the economic downturn and its impact and the Rs. 25,000 crore (Rs. 250 billion) allocation to states by the Thirteenth Finance Commission, a sharing pattern of 65:35 would also be acceptable.

Source: The Economic Times, July 6, 2010 (Report by Urmi A. Goswami)

Education super-regulator bill to be tabled in Parliament

The government’s intention to establish a super regulator like body for education could materialize within this financial year. The National Commission on Higher Education and Research (NCHER) Bill is likely to be presented in the monsoon session of Parliament. The NCHER Bill seeks to establish a super regulator for education. The University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) needs to be scrapped after NCHER is set up. They will be subsumed inside this council to create a super governing body, which will also have the role of a regulator. The second draft on NCHER is to be presented to the Central Advisory Board on Education (CABE), that is the highest advisory body on education in the country, on June 17. Once the proposal is finalized, it will be taken to the Cabinet very soon. Before that, CABE will take a call on this council and after that a Cabinet note will be moved to set up this council.

Henceforth, all professional colleges will be governed by NCHER. In addition, the bill proposes that NCHER be the governing body for all professional courses including law, nursing, dentistry, and architecture. This means existing bodies like the Bar Council or the Indian Nursing Council will only be responsible for the professional aspects of the sector, thereby curtailing their powers significantly.

Efforts are on to include medical education under the NCHER, a move that is being resisted currently. NCHER will offer greater functional autonomy to the Vice Chancellors of Universities, who now have to run from pillar to post for getting routine clearances. It will be a must for all universities and colleges to seek accreditation from NCHER and proposes to do away with the current practice of voluntary application for accreditation. Currently, only 20% of 503 universities have been accredited.

The Commission may be made functional within FY11 and there is a proposal for it to be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge. It is likely to comprise of seven members. However, it remains to be seen if the Centre will be able to develop a consensus among states in the next meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education.

Source: www.moneycontrol.com, May 31, 2010

Education super-regulator bill to be tabled in Parliament

The government’s intention to establish a super regulator like body for education could materialize within this financial year. The National Commission on Higher Education and Research (NCHER) Bill is likely to be presented in the monsoon session of Parliament. The NCHER Bill seeks to establish a super regulator for education. The University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) needs to be scrapped after NCHER is set up. They will be subsumed inside this council to create a super governing body, which will also have the role of a regulator. The second draft on NCHER is to be presented to the Central Advisory Board on Education (CABE), that is the highest advisory body on education in the country, on June 17. Once the proposal is finalized, it will be taken to the Cabinet very soon. Before that, CABE will take a call on this council and after that a Cabinet note will be moved to set up this council.

Henceforth, all professional colleges will be governed by NCHER. In addition, the bill proposes that NCHER be the governing body for all professional courses including law, nursing, dentistry, and architecture. This means existing bodies like the Bar Council or the Indian Nursing Council will only be responsible for the professional aspects of the sector, thereby curtailing their powers significantly.

Efforts are on to include medical education under the NCHER, a move that is being resisted currently. NCHER will offer greater functional autonomy to the Vice Chancellors of Universities, who now have to run from pillar to post for getting routine clearances. It will be a must for all universities and colleges to seek accreditation from NCHER and proposes to do away with the current practice of voluntary application for accreditation. Currently, only 20% of 503 universities have been accredited.

The Commission may be made functional within FY11 and there is a proposal for it to be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge. It is likely to comprise of seven members. However, it remains to be seen if the Centre will be able to develop a consensus among states in the next meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education.

Source: www.moneycontrol.com, May 31, 2010

Common Entrance Test for Professional Courses

State boards across the country have agreed to implement a core curriculum in science and mathematics at the higher secondary level. The decision taken by the Council of School Board of Education (COBSE) on February 16, 2010 will be implemented from 2011-12. The apex body for all school boards and councils also agreed to work towards a common entrance examination for professional courses by 2013. With concerns about stress faced by students mounting, the core curriculum is expected to be implemented smoothly. Putting in place a common entrance examination for courses like engineering, medicine may prove to be difficult, as it would mean doing away with entrance exams like IIT-JEE. Both decision would be referred to the Central Advisory Board on Education (CABE)for approval.

“The COBSE approved the core curriculum in science and mathematics. This will be accepted by all the state boards at the senior higher secondary level. Hence forth, the core curriculum will be taught in the science stream in all schools,” HRD minister Kapil Sibal said. The COBSE meeting on February 16 was attended by representative of 20 boards. There are 41 boards across the country. Officials said that those not present had conveyed their assent to the two proposals discussed at the meeting. This move to put in place a core curriculum would ensure uniformity in content as well as provide a ‘level playing field’ for students across the country. The core curriculum has been prepared for physics, chemistry, mathematics and biology. The boards have been given three months to prepare a core curriculum for commerce. The consensus is on the content of the syllabus and state boards will continue to determine the mode of examination.

The idea of a core curriculum in science and math and a move towards a common admission test for professional courses has been in the works. At the last meeting of COBSE in August 2009, Mr Sibal had placed the proposal before the 41 boards for their consideration. COBSE agreed that the school boards will work towards a common entrance examination for admission of students in higher courses, including engineering and medicine, by 2013. A national taskforce will be set up to consider nature and modalities of the entrance test. It will consult the school boards, institutes like IITs and AIIMS to examine whether the proposed entrance will be able to cater to the requirements of all types of institutes. The taskforce will need to work out the weightage it could give to class XII board examination. It will consider the manner in which existing entrance examinations, especially those associated with a brand value like IITJEE, AIIMS entrance exam, could be brought under one umbrella. This could prove to be a challenge.

A similar effort to had been made under the NDA government. The effort was opposed by many established institutions. Instead, the government had to settle for a bouquet of five or six tests, with institutes opting for any one of them to select students. The ministry has made it clear that the single admission test would mean the end of the road for admission tests like the IITJEE. Ministry joint secretary S C Khuntia said, “We will work for a common entrance test for every stream. One examination for all engineering institutions, which means IITs will also follow it. In that parameter, there should not be any separate IIT entrance. We have to work in that direction. As per the score of the entrance, selection will be made. Let’s say, the top rankers may go to IITs, the second best will go to institutions which are a step below IITs, so on. The system will benefit students most.” The ministry is keen on putting this single entrance examination in place at the same time as the “core curriculum” students are graduating. “By 2013 we should have in place a common system for common admission into professional institutions in the country,” Mr Sibal said. The minister said that “this will smoothen the admission process into engineering, medical, economics and commerce courses.” A single test, the minister felt would reduce the admission-related stress of students.

Board representatives were upbeat about the core curriculum though the jury still appeared to be out on the common entrance examination. “This is a good step to have a common curriculum. We have no problem on implementing it. However, there may be certain difficulties in holding a CET. While holding a common entrance test for the country, the state’s interest has to be protected in state level institutes,” Bihar School Exam Board chairman A K P Yadav said.

Source: The Economic Times, February 17, 2010

Common Entrance Test for Professional Courses

State boards across the country have agreed to implement a core curriculum in science and mathematics at the higher secondary level. The decision taken by the Council of School Board of Education (COBSE) on February 16, 2010 will be implemented from 2011-12. The apex body for all school boards and councils also agreed to work towards a common entrance examination for professional courses by 2013. With concerns about stress faced by students mounting, the core curriculum is expected to be implemented smoothly. Putting in place a common entrance examination for courses like engineering, medicine may prove to be difficult, as it would mean doing away with entrance exams like IIT-JEE. Both decision would be referred to the Central Advisory Board on Education (CABE)for approval.

“The COBSE approved the core curriculum in science and mathematics. This will be accepted by all the state boards at the senior higher secondary level. Hence forth, the core curriculum will be taught in the science stream in all schools,” HRD minister Kapil Sibal said. The COBSE meeting on February 16 was attended by representative of 20 boards. There are 41 boards across the country. Officials said that those not present had conveyed their assent to the two proposals discussed at the meeting. This move to put in place a core curriculum would ensure uniformity in content as well as provide a ‘level playing field’ for students across the country. The core curriculum has been prepared for physics, chemistry, mathematics and biology. The boards have been given three months to prepare a core curriculum for commerce. The consensus is on the content of the syllabus and state boards will continue to determine the mode of examination.

The idea of a core curriculum in science and math and a move towards a common admission test for professional courses has been in the works. At the last meeting of COBSE in August 2009, Mr Sibal had placed the proposal before the 41 boards for their consideration. COBSE agreed that the school boards will work towards a common entrance examination for admission of students in higher courses, including engineering and medicine, by 2013. A national taskforce will be set up to consider nature and modalities of the entrance test. It will consult the school boards, institutes like IITs and AIIMS to examine whether the proposed entrance will be able to cater to the requirements of all types of institutes. The taskforce will need to work out the weightage it could give to class XII board examination. It will consider the manner in which existing entrance examinations, especially those associated with a brand value like IITJEE, AIIMS entrance exam, could be brought under one umbrella. This could prove to be a challenge.

A similar effort to had been made under the NDA government. The effort was opposed by many established institutions. Instead, the government had to settle for a bouquet of five or six tests, with institutes opting for any one of them to select students. The ministry has made it clear that the single admission test would mean the end of the road for admission tests like the IITJEE. Ministry joint secretary S C Khuntia said, “We will work for a common entrance test for every stream. One examination for all engineering institutions, which means IITs will also follow it. In that parameter, there should not be any separate IIT entrance. We have to work in that direction. As per the score of the entrance, selection will be made. Let’s say, the top rankers may go to IITs, the second best will go to institutions which are a step below IITs, so on. The system will benefit students most.” The ministry is keen on putting this single entrance examination in place at the same time as the “core curriculum” students are graduating. “By 2013 we should have in place a common system for common admission into professional institutions in the country,” Mr Sibal said. The minister said that “this will smoothen the admission process into engineering, medical, economics and commerce courses.” A single test, the minister felt would reduce the admission-related stress of students.

Board representatives were upbeat about the core curriculum though the jury still appeared to be out on the common entrance examination. “This is a good step to have a common curriculum. We have no problem on implementing it. However, there may be certain difficulties in holding a CET. While holding a common entrance test for the country, the state’s interest has to be protected in state level institutes,” Bihar School Exam Board chairman A K P Yadav said.

Source: The Economic Times, February 17, 2010