Tamil Nadu opposes common engineering entrance test

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu government opposed the proposal of holding Neet-like common engineering entrance test for admission to the engineering courses at a meeting held by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Officials from the Directorate of Technical Education represented the state government in the meeting. “We will continue to have the same system which we are having now,” an official said.

Ministry of human resource development (MHRD) is in favour of holding a single national level test for entrance to engineering colleges on the pattern of the medical entrance test Neet.

“As of now 1.16 lakh engineering seats are vacant in the state. When we are not even able to fill the seats there is no point of holding entrance test,” a source told Deccan Chronicle.

“The test is only relevant when your seats are limited and there are more takers. We have already had entrance test and gone through the experience much earlier,” he said.

AICTE and MHRD are also mulling over about conducting the exit test for engineering graduates to test their employability skills.

“Both the proposals will be widely consulted with the state governments and will be taken up at the next meeting,” an AICTE official said.