Only one exam for engineering.

A single entrance exam will be conducted for all 3,500 engineering colleges in the country from next year, with the Center issuing orders to this effect on Friday.

The National Entrance Examination for Engineering and Architecture (NEEEA) will replace all existing tests, including those held by Sikkim, Bengal and several other states, for B.Tech seats in government and private colleges. It will also replace entrance tests conducted by various private engineering varsities and taken by nearly 25 lakh students every year.

Friday’s order issued by the HRD ministry asks the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) to frame rules for the test. “Since the proposal is in accordance with the policy of the government to improve standards and quality of engineering education, AICTE is advised to issue suitable regulation for its implementation from 2018-19,” the order issued by R. Subrahmanyam, additional secretary in the HRD ministry.

 The council has been asked to ensure the test is conducted multiple times a year and addresses linguistic diversity.
The National Eligibility-cum –Entrance Test (NEET), the single exam for MBBS courses, is held in 10 languages including Bengali, Odia and Assamese. Sources said the NEEEA may be held in these and more languages.

At present, the IITs consider the CBSE-conducted JEE Main as a filter and themselves hold JEE Advanced for the final selections. They may continue with the separate test under the new arrangement, the sources said. Many states use JEE Main scores for entry to their tech colleges.

“All states and deemed universities may be requested to communicate constructive suggestions for smooth implementation of the regulation. It may also be useful to request as many institutions as possible to come under the joint-seat allocation system,” the order said. The National Testing Agency, a new body that the Centre has decided to set up, could conduct the NEEEA.

“It (the new test) has the potential to make admissions transparent. At present, students have to appear for multiple tests,” said Sandeep Sancheti, the VC of Manipal University Jaipur, a private varsity that holds its own exam for B.Tech seats.

But Shalini Singh, who heads the higher education unit at business chamber CII, termed the new test a “challenge”. “A national-level single test may not be accepted by all states. There is so much of diversity among institutions and their syllabi.