Gujarat government may not go with JEE

Updated on: Wednesday, October 14, 2015

gujarat Gujarat government is mulling doing away with the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) which is mandatory for candidates seeking admission in engineering and pharmacy. The state plans to introduce its own Gujarat Common Entrance Test (GujCET) for admissions to professional courses.

Education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama said: "We received several representations from various quarters of society and even from students and school managements, asking the government to make Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) not mandatory for candidates seeking admission to engineering and pharmacy colleges in the state. The government is thinking positively about it and this year the state gave admission to students who had not appeared for the JEE examination.

The minister said the government is taking opinions of various stakeholders including academicians. The government has got representations stating that those students who do not want to go away from their homes for studies should be spared from the all-India test, he said.

This will come as a big relief to more than one lakh students in Gujarat who do outside their home state for studies. Incidentally, candidates seeking admission to national institutes and colleges outside the state will still have to take JEE or a similar all-India entrance test.

Pankaj Patel, joint secretary of Gujarat State Higher Secondary Teachers Federation said: "We have made a representation to have GujCET based on Semester III and Semester IV syllabus of class XII of Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board. The minister has assured that they will do away with the system and announce the decision shortly."

Officials said that chief minister Anandiben Patel herself wanted this change in the admission process. She had earlier directed the state education department to take necessary steps and change the admission system so that students of the state not seeking admission in a national institution are not compelled to take the JEE.

Tamil Nadu and some other states also give admission on the basis of marks scored in the Class 12 board exams, said the official. It is worth recalling that Gujarat was among the first states to agree to the introduction of the JEE examination.

Gujarat government may not go with JEE

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