No CET for PG Medical Students

Its official now: the Common Entrance Test (CET) for post-graduate medical students will not start from this session. In a meeting on Tuesday, the Union health ministry decided that it would not be “feasible” to conduct the CET for post-graduate medical students from 2012 and decided to go ahead with the CET for under-graduates only from this year. Earlier, the government had decided to conduct the CET for both undergraduates and post graduate medical students from this session (2012).

The All India CET for PG got into limbo with the Medical Council of India (MCI) yet to convince an agency to conduct the exam for them. Earlier, the MCI had approached the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for holding the exam which expressed its inability due to lack of manpower.

Now NEET, not Eamcet for medical admissions

Students of BiPC (Biology, Physics and Chemistry) in the state will now have to switch over to CBSE syllabus with the NTR University of Health Sciences announcing on September 25 that the state will participate in the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) for admissions to MBBS, scheduled to be held in 2012.
Students rue the fact that they would have to unlearn some lessons from the state syllabus. Officials of NTR Health University had announced on Sunday that the state will not conduct Eamcet for the medical stream from the coming academic year.

The state’s decision to participate in NEET came at a time when Telugu medium students sought to know the stand of the Medical Council of India (MCI) on providing question papers in regional languages. While over 15,000 to 20,000 students from the state write Eamcet medical stream in Telugu, it is not clear whether the national authorities will conduct NEET in regional languages. Another issue is the schedule of the national test.

MCI has also decided that AIIMS and JIPMER will be held along with NEET. “MCI has decided not to conduct AFMC, meant for admissions to armed forces medical colleges. We are not sure whether NEET is enough for admissions to AF colleges,” said a senior lecturer.

Students in the state are worried that their preparation which is mainly for Eamcet will not be enough to get through the national level test. “Most students from AP aim at getting a seat in medical colleges within the state and bank mostly on Eamcet. Since MCI has not specified the syllabus for NEET so far we are worried that students who have been writing the national level entrance tests will score more than us who have studied for Eamcet,” said S Anuradha, a second year student from a corporate college in the city.

74,688 Engineering Seats in Convener-Quota Remain vacant

After the successive rounds of EAMCET counselling, 74,688 engineering seats have remained vacant under the convener’s quota across the state.While big engineering colleges have managed to fill up the existing seats in various streams, colleges established in the last five years are the worst-hit. A similar number of seats under the management quota have found no takers.

 The date set for completion of the admission procedure is October 24 and students opting for the management quota have to do so before October 15. Given the short time span, private engineering college managements are in a fix.

“The deadline is short and whatever planning we do has to be for the next year,” said KVK Rao, general secretary of the Consortium of Engineering and Professional College Management Associations.

 Due to the ongoing strike, some students missed the deadline of September 25 and could not report on time for fresh allotments in the final phase of counselling.

“The rules do not permit the students to exercise their options after the deadline has passed.

 Unfortunately, these students will have to continue in the colleges allotted previously,” added Rao.The seats can not be filled by the college managements. Nearly 15,028 fresh allotments were made in the second phase of counselling, which concluded on September 10.

While electronics and communication engineering (ECE) seemed to be the most favoured branch, computer science, and electrical and electronics have lost favour of the aspirants.

As the AICTE lists the course of action over 2012-13, a fresh crop of private engineering colleges is likely to come up in the state, adding to the dismal situation.

“We would request AICTE within a week’s time to refrain from approving the establishment of new engineering colleges as it will compound our woes,” said Rao.As of now, about half of the 3.1 lakh engineering seats in the state are vacant.

Australia eases norms for student visas

Australia has introduced easier norms for international students, said to be this country’s third biggest export industry after coal and iron ore but under pressure after the attacks on Indian students and emergence of competitors.

Under the new arrangements announced on Thursday, international students enrolled in at or higher bachelor degree courses will be treated as lower risk applicants leading to less onerous financial and documentary requirements.

Students undertaking vocational courses would continue to be assessed against higher assessment levels but with lower financial requirements.

The changes will also allow for a two to four year post-study work visa for university graduates depending on the level of study completed.

These changes will be progressively implemented from late 2011 with the full complement of changes expected to be finalised in the first half of 2012.

CAT next year to see changes

CAT set to turn less stressful IIM aspirants will have to appear for only two sections instead of three, with an additional five minutes that will help them appear for the exam in a more relaxed environment
With only 40 days remaining for the Common Aptitude Test (CAT) 2011, the organisers have announced some changes in the format of the exams.

According to the organisers, unlike the previous editions of the exam, aspirants wanting to get into one of the 13 Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) colleges, will have to appear for only two sections instead of three, with an additional five minutes that will help them appear for the exam in a more relaxed environment.

Throwing light on the new format, an IIM official revealed that out of the two sections, the first would aim at testing the quantitative and data interpretation ability of the students, while the second section would deal with testing the verbal and logical reasoning skills of the students.

The two sections will have 60 questions each, and will have to be attempted in a duration of 70 minutes each. “The stress is more on testing the students' capacity to do mental calculations, which will be done in the first section that will have mathematical problems based on algebra, number systems and arithmetic.

The second section will test the analysing and logical prowess of students. It will not be merely testing of the students' memory, but also an understanding of the language being used in the questions, their interpretation and usage,“ said the official.

The IIMs have also announced a new scoring system in which students having up to four years work experience, will score up to 80.

MBA common admission test from 2012-13

In a move that will cut down the multiple entrance exams that students are forced to take for admission to management courses across the country, the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has decided to conduct a common admission test from 2012-13. The test will cover admissions to both MBA and postgraduate diploma in management.

The decision to hold a pan-India Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) was taken at the recent executive council meeting of the AICTE, the umbrella body for professional courses. While CMAT will be one of the entrance exams to be held in 2012, the Council wants all its colleges and institutes to admit students based on their CMAT scores from 2013.

"Almost every college was holding an entrance exam. Moreover, each state has its own entrance tests, and private associations have their own exams," AICTE chairman S S Mantha said. "In principle, CMAT will be a test for all AICTE-approved institutes and will reduce the stress and financial burden on students."

However, the Indian Institutes of Management, which are independent and autonomous B-schools, will continue to conduct the CAT (common admission test). Deemed universities will also hold their individual entrance tests. But admission to 4,000 colleges that offer an MBA and another 500 which run diploma programmes will take place on the basis of the CMAT.

"We still have to work out the modalities of conducting the CMAT. But having so many exams, all of varied difficulty levels, also raises concerns about the quality of students who enter this professional course," Mantha added. It is for the first time that the AICTE has spoken about holding an entrance exam; to date, it has largely been an approval-seeking body for new colleges and institutes wanting to expand student intake.

The Management Aptitude Test, which is taken by 3.85 lakh students every year, is currently the largest B-school entrance test. Hari Krishna Maram, governing council member of AIMA which conducts MAT, said "I welcome the idea of a single entrance exam for management courses in the interest of students. The government has been talking about it for quite sometime, but the idea hasn`t taken off. I do not know if a single exam will work since different universities have different admission schedules. MAT, on the other hand, is conducted four times a year and this helps students to take the exam whenever they are free."

AIEEE goes online in 2012

Pattern change Since many students were forced to take the exam twice on account of a question paper leak last year, the CBSE has decided to go online in 2012.

The All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE) will go completely online from this year, just like the Common Admission Test (CAT) for IIMs.

The CBSE, which conducts the national exam every year, decided to to go ahead with the move on account of the leak of a question paper last year which forced several students to take the exam again.

The next AIEEE is scheduled to be held nationwide on April 29, 2012.

Last year, a majority of the students opted for the conventional exam since the option was allowed. The plan was to conduct online exams for one lakh students out of the 11.5 lakh applicants, but less than 5,000 students opted for the online exam. In Andhra Pradesh, of the 1.5 lakh applicants, less than 100 opted for the online exam last year.

This year, the CBSE has decided not to give students the option.

“This year, the CBSE is planning to conduct online exams on a mass scale. Students are advised to acquaint themselves with the new method,“ a CBSE circular stated. An competent agency will be employed to ensure smooth conduct of the test.

About 28,000 B.Tech seats and 1,000 B. Arch seats are filled annually through the AIEEE.