HYDERABAD: Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu N. Ram has suggested a ``reliable and fair'' countrywide common aptitude and proficiency test for admissions to the professional courses and termed it an ``educational and social priority.''

``Given the plethora of academic and research institutions the country has, it should not be difficult to put in place a such an evaluation system,'' he felt. He called upon the Centre and State governments to sit together to plan out such a national level test.

He was addressing students and parents at the inaugural session of the ` The Hindu Education Plus Counselling Session' for engineering and medicine aspirants here on Sunday. It was the fourth in the series of workshops after the ones held at Tirupati, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.

"Big ticket event"

Mr. Ram said admissions to engineering and medicine courses had become a "big ticket event" with politicians and educational institutions adding to the complexity of the exercise. He advised governments and administrators ``not to play'' with the lives of the youth in modifying the admission process constantly.

While the Engineering and Medical Common Entrance Test (EAMCET) format in Andhra Pradesh had acquired some degree of stability, Tamil Nadu chose to scrap the system and go for admissions based on Plus Two marks, he said and observed that each system had its merits and demerits.

Learning from the experience of conducting the Joint Entrance Examination for IITs that has gained worldwide esteem, he said, a common national aptitude and skills test for admissions to under-graduate and post-graduate courses could be evolved.

``Only such a transparent, even-handed and credible exercise will bring out the best in our students. Otherwise, those who are expert by learning by rote or memorising will outperform the more talented and intelligent ones,'' he said.

A big challenge for newspapers was to meet the needs and aspirations of the youth, said Mr. Ram. Hence, special focus bridging the information gap for those between Plus Two and the first job was being made. The latest National Readership Survey had shown 58 per cent of The Hindu readers were in the age of 34 and below and ``it is going to get younger,'' the Editor-in-Chief asserted.

The Chairman of the A.P. State Council for Higher Education (APSCHE), K.C. Reddy, also spoke in favour of a countrywide common evaluation test as he felt there were too many entrance examinations all over. ``If a national level aptitude test can be done in the U.S., why not in India too,'' he asked.

He said the Andhra Pradesh Government would not bring any ``instability'' into EAMCET and the report of the high-power committee — which made a critical review of the examination — was being discussed in various fora.

But emphasis on the entrance examination was adversely affecting the Plus Two courses, he said.

``The Plus Two course is getting increasingly marginalised and classes are not being taken seriously,'' he said. In any case, enough time would be given to students to adjust in case the Government came out with a new admission system, he said.

The former Chairman of the APSCHE, C. Subba Rao and Padmaja of the Chaitanya Group of Educational Institutions also spoke while The Hindu Chief of Bureau, S. Nagesh Kumar, welcomed the gathering.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous | Engagements |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Updates: Breaking News |