The Common Entrance Exam, planned as a SAT-type test, is likely to be held online from 2014 and could be given twice a year, said the highly placed sources. The paper test is likely to stay on until the online system stabilizes. The NIT council has already approved the new format. All the IIT's have also agreed and are likely to give their format approval at a meeting of the Joint Admission Board on February 18.
The human resource development (HRD) ministry has formed a committee of IIT directors and CBSE officials to work out the modalities before the meeting. The ministry has been working on a common entrance format for over a year, with the aim of reducing the stress of taking multiple tests for students just out of class 12, checking the coaching business which promotes learning by rote, and reinforcing the importance of school education.
Mr.Kapil Sibal, HRD Minister has plans to take the proposal to the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) to help build acceptability and consensus for the Common Entrance Test among state governments.
The source said “The common entrance exam will have two elements- simple aptitude testing to access scholastic levels, and an advanced section which a student can choose to either continue with or can skip off”.