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.

EAMCET 2011 Web Counseling Procedure

About Web Counseling :: EAMCET - 2011

ADMISSIONS INTO ENGINEERING & PHARMACY COLLEGES

I	PREAMBLE
	The Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education is conducting admission to the Candidates into various Engineering and Pharmacy Courses who passed Intermediate or its Equivalent and qualified in EAMCET (Engineering Agriculture and Medicine Common Entrance Test).
II	FUTURE PROSPECTS
	Candidates after acquiring degree have opportunity to join in various industries and can also acquire higher qualifications by joining various Post-graduate courses in engineering and technology directly.
III	RATIONALE OF WEB COUNSELING
	The process of inviting the qualified candidates of EAMCET and allotting a seat as per their option is known as Counseling. Till last year candidate used to attend in any one of the 8 Counseling Centres for securing a seat in a college. In this process, candidates have to travel all the way to report at any one of the counseling centres more than once. But in the Web Counseling candidates can select a college and a Course from a nearest Internet Center.
IV	WHAT IS WEB COUNSELING
	For the Convenience of the Candidates from the academic year 2009-10, government have decided to adopt a total web based counseling procedure where candidate can exercise options. that is can select a college and course intend to study through internet centre or internet facility available at their residence and where such facility is not available candidate can approach any one of the help line centres nearer to them.
V	STAGES OF WEB COUNSELING
	1.  Issue of Notification: The Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education will issue a notification during June-July in news papers indicating the dates and ranks of the candidates to be attended for Registration, Verification of Certificates and Schedule for Exercising options and also notify the list of Help-line Centres. Candidates who fail to report for Certificates verification will not be considered for allotment of seats in any of the colleges.
	2.  Certificate Verification: Candidates should produce the follwoing certificates   -   Hall ticket of EAMCET   -   Rank Card of EAMCET   -   SSC/ Intermediate or Equivalent marks memo   -   Study/Bonafide Certificate from III to X Class and Inetermdiate (10+2)   -   Caste Certificate of SC/ST/BC/Minorities (if applicable)   -   Income Certificate issued by MRO issued after 01.01.2011 also be submitted (in case the candidate   -   desires to claim fee exemption).   -   PH/NCC/CAP/Sports and Games Certificates (if applicable)   -   Transfer Certificate.   -   Candidates will be issued a receipt of Certificates at Help-line Centres after Verification.
	3.  Exercising Options:: After Certificate Verification in Help-line Centres, a Blank Option Form, List of colleges, courses and their Codes will be given to all the Candidates. Based on the codes, Candidates have to write College and Course code for which they intend to join and it is advised to prepare such lists in consultation with their parents and friends. From out of that list Candidate has to prioritize and write Priority Number in the Blank Option Form which is essential to enter the options on the web. Candidates can exercise any number of options and can take print out if they desire. Help-Line Centres shall furnish the detailed procedure of Exercising Options.
	4.  Modification of Options and Freezing: Candidate can change his/her options any number of times during the allotted time. After allotted time for option entry, If the Candidate is not satisfied with the Options exercised, he/she can modify the options on the dates notified by the authority and this is final opportunity for exercising options.
	5.  Final Allotments of Seats: Final Allotments will be placed on the Web and the Candidates have to down load the allotment order.
	6.  Payment of Seats & Reporting at College: Candidates with downloaded allotment order have to remit the fee in one of the designated banks and obtain a receipt. Candidate with allotment order and fee receipts have to report at the respective colleges where the seat is allotted within the dates mentioned. If Candidate fails to pay the fee and report on the dates stipulated the allotment stands cancelled and candidate has no claim further on the allotment.

Eamcet web counselling notification on July 22

Eamcet web counselling notification will be issued on July 22. The AP State Council for Higher Education took the decision at a meeting here on Tuesday. Certificates of students will be scrutinised from July 28 to August 2 and they can exercise their options through web counselling from August 1.

Click Here to View Counselling Schedule

D.Ed is the most popular course this year

It's not engineering or management, but the Diploma in Education (D.Ed) course that has emerged as the most popular course in state this year.

While students earlier would not pay even `20,000 for a management quota seat in a D.Ed course, the seats are now going for up to `1.5 lakh per annum for the twoyear course.

The decision of the government to reserve 30 per cent of the Secondary Grade Teacher (SGT) posts in government schools for D.Ed students in all its future recruitments is said to be the reason for the spurt in demand.

The Right to Education Act also mandates the governments to appoint candidates with D.Ed to teach students of primary classes.

Both these factors have contributed to the huge demand for D.Ed. seats courses.