Ramaswamy panel proposes common entrance test for engineering colleges

• Coming close on the heels of a common entrance test for undergraduate medical courses, the government now proposes to hold a single test for admissions to engineering and technical courses, including that of Indian Institutes of Technology. The proposed National Aptitude Test will benefit more than seven lakh students annually, who at present have to take multiple examinations to get into engineering courses.
• The objective behind holding the National Aptitude Test is to reduce psychological and financial stress on students and give more emphasis on class 12th results than coaching, T. Ramaswamy, Secretary Department of Science and Technology has suggested in his report. He had been entrusted with the task of "re-looking" at the test methodology of selecting students and having a common system for admission for the IITs, Indian Institutes of Science, Engineering and Research, Nation Institutes of Technology, and other engineering colleges.