The proposed common admission test for the central universities, the brainchild of the Human Resources and Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal, will take off at the post graduate level.
It will test students on a combination of general aptitude and subject knowledge.
A panel of senior vice-chancellors (VCs) appointed by Sibal is giving final touches to the blueprint of the test plan, which will borrow strategies used by the Indian Institutes of Technology.
Top panel sources have told HT that their blueprint will recommend the country's 40 central universities use a combination of scores in the common admission test and undergraduate performance in picking students.
Individual universities will have the option of deciding the weightage to give to undergraduate scores, but the panel may recommend a maximum allowed weightage of about 30 per cent, the sources said. The remaining weightage will be accorded to scores in the common admission test.
The idea behind starting with a common test for PG programmes is to test the plan at a smaller scale before expanding it to conduct admissions for the vast numbers of students who apply for undergraduate courses every year, the sources said.
The blueprint is likely to suggest students to indicate in their application preferences among universities - like they do while applying to the IITs. Students can be allotted seats based on their performance in the test and at the UG level, and depending on their indicated preferences. The top central universities can take turns at conducting the common test - like the IITs do.
{{/usCountry}}The blueprint is likely to suggest students to indicate in their application preferences among universities - like they do while applying to the IITs. Students can be allotted seats based on their performance in the test and at the UG level, and depending on their indicated preferences. The top central universities can take turns at conducting the common test - like the IITs do.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier this year, Sibal had set up a number of committees of VCs to evolve blueprints on various challenges for central universities. One of these panels was specifically set up to evolve a strategy for a common admission test for central varsities.
A panel consisting of the VCs heading each committee is now finalising the different blueprints.
The panel includes Jamia Millia Islamia VC Najeeb Jung, Hyderabad University VC Syed Hasnain, outgoing Jawaharlal Nehru University BB Bhattacharya and former Delhi University VC Deepak Pental among others. The panel is likely to meet in January to finalise their reports before submitting them to Sibal.
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