Two testing modes for engineering, medical entrance

The combined All India engineering and medical entrance examination planned for 2011 may witness an unprecedented combination of computerised and pencil-paper testing options used to test students, under a proposal the government is mulling.

The combined All India engineering and medical entrance examination planned for 2011 may witness an unprecedented combination of computerised and pencil-paper testing options used to test students, under a proposal the government is mulling.

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Select students appearing for the joint All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) and the All India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT) may take the computerised test while the pencil-paper option will be used for others under the plan.

The plan — which if implemented could mean two testing modes employed for one examination in India for the first time — is aimed at introducing computerised testing in a phased manner for India’s single largest undergraduate entrance examination.

Sources told HT that a phased introduction of computerised tests would help organisers to study concerns that may arise when the testing mode is scaled up to cover all students.

“We are contemplating a combination of the computerised and pencil-paper formats before making the test solely computer-based,” a source said.

HRD minister Kapil Sibal had earlier this year announced the AIEEE and the AIPMT would be conducted jointly from 2011.

The NIT and most central government engineering schools admit students based on their AIEEE scores. The AIPMT is the admission gateway to most central government medical schools and to 50 per cent of seats in all state colleges.