Separate engineering entrance exam for Himachal Pradesh Students

The Himachal Pradesh state government has decided to hold a separate engineering entrance exam for admission to engineering courses in private engineering colleges across Himachal pradesh.

The Himachal Pradesh Technical University (HPTU) would be the conducting body for the entrance examination.

As per the reports, the entrance exam would be different from the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), which is conducted by CBSE.

According to reports, the government decision has faced a lot of opposition. A separate entrance exam will enable private engineering colleges admit a large number of students who aspire for engineering courses but do not clear an all-India test.

This in turn will negatively impact the academic standard of the state.

Presently, around 34 engineering colleges are there in HP. Out of which 17 are run by private universities. In 2014-15, 50% of engineering seats were left vacant. During this period, only 3,055 seats were filled against sanctioned 6,100 seats.

According to the experts, if all the candidates from the state granted for admission to engineering courses, the seats will remain vacant.

Hence, government can grant the admission to the remaining seats based on class 12 merit of the students. It can prevent the students to appear for the two entrance examinations.

Experts also claimed that, to improve the quality education in HP. HPTU should be upgraded to full-fledged university with basic and proper infrastructure facilities at Hamirpur. Otherwise, it could merge with the Himachal Pradesh University.