EFC to provide loan to professional students

Updated on: Monday, July 26, 2010

HRD Ministry has decided to hold National Common Entrance Test for engineering and medical streams, will set up EFC to provide loan to the students for professional courses in the country.

The Ministry has also decided to issue degrees and certificates to students in the country in a D-mated format from next year so that all the degrees and certificates could be included in the Universal Identity cards(UID).

''The EFC, to come into existence from next fiscal, will provide loan to the students on one hand and re-finance the education sector to set up new institutions,'' said Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal here today. Talking to mediapersons, Sibal said the EFC (Education Finance Corporation) will provide loan at the rate of 8 per cent to the students to be re-paid in easy installments.

'' UID cards of the students, which will have degrees and certificates they have passed, will also include the loan taken by them during their studies and it will be the responsibility of their employers to see that they are repaying the loan,'' he said, adding that now all the details of the degrees and certificates would be feeded in the UID through D-mated format.

Narrating in detail about the National Common Entrance Test for students trying for the engineering and medical institutions, the Minister said while 70 per cent weightage will be given to the Class-X11 result, while remaining 30 per cent of the performance in the National level Aptitude Test will be taken into consideration.

''It will be an effort of the Ministry to prepare a national merit list which will certainly bring an end to the era of caption fee charged by the private engineering and medical institutions,'' he further added.

Sibal said his ministry had already mooted the idea of common syllabus for class -X11 in the country and from the next academic session it will be implemented. ''A total of 20 states out have supported the Ministry's plan to have a core- curriculum in the country and it had been approved by the Council For Education Advisory Board,.'' he added.

The Minister said he had already announced to provide laptop to students at a price of Rs 750 with a 50 per cent government subsidy. ''We will place an order of one million such laptops and they would be distributed among the students in the next academic session,'' he added.

Sibal, elaborating about the progress of the ambitious Right To Education(RTE) Act in the country, said ''spirit of cooperation was required from all states to implement this project.'' When asked if Uttar Pradesh was trying to put pressure on the Centre demanding more funds for the programme, the Union Human Resource Minister disclosed that it has been decided that now Central share will be more than the states'.

''I cannot disclose the ratio at this moment but can say that Centre will certainly give more than the states,'' he added.

Reiterating the target fixed by his Ministry to develop the educational facilities in the country, he said, ''every year the Planning Commission has earmarked Rs 45,000 crore for RTE and Sarva Siksha Abhiyan in the country and it is the duty of all the states to bring ratio of 1:30 between teachers and students.

EFC to provide loan to professional students

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