ONLINE OPTION FOR BIGGEST TECH EXAM

Online option for biggest tech exam



New Delhi, Oct. 21: The examination that opens opportunities for the maximum number of engineering students may soon be available online under a proposal mooted by the government.

The government today formed a panel to examine the possibility of making the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) an online test while keeping the traditional pen-and-paper option available too.

The AIEEE opens admission opportunities at the National Institutes of Technology — the second most sought-after engineering chain after the IITs — all state government colleges and most private colleges across the country.

The panel formed by the NIT Council, the apex decision-making body of these institutions, will also review the current structure of the AIEEE.

The committee, consisting of the directors of the NITs in Allahabad, Calicut and Agartala, will also examine whether current eligibility criteria need a raise. At present, students just need to clear their class XII qualifying examinations to be eligible to appear for the AIEEE.

The NITs conduct several rounds of counselling to assist students pick streams of their choice, but several seats at the institutes still remain vacant.

The panel will also evaluate reasons for these vacancies and suggest whether certain unpopular courses need to be replaced.

The NIT Council — headed by human resource development minister Kapil Sibal — also decided to set up a second committee that will review and revise the current curriculum at the NITs.

“The idea is to make the curriculum more in tune with what industry needs from our future engineers,” an HRD ministry source said.

Sibal also asked each NIT to prepare a vision document outlining its future plans, including any proposal for a campus abroad.

The minister told the NITs that like the IITs, they too could bend controversial new pay norms to lure talented faculty.

A performance-related incentive scheme proposed by the IITs for their faculty will be applicable to the NIT teachers, Sibal said

SOURCE;THE TELEGRAPE