The Government of India plans a mandatory exit test (opposite of the entrance test) for the Engineering students across the country. Now each engineering students in India might have to give a compulsory exit examination in the final year of their engineering program, and the performance will determine their employability. The government plans to share the score obtain in exit test with recruiters and employers.
The HRD Ministry is more concerned about the quality of engineering students who study in government or private engineering institute across the country. The exit test will check the candidate’s attainment level and his skills. Also, the test will be made mandatory for the students to check their employability factor. Next week, this issue will be discussed at a meeting of the All India Council for Technical Education, and the government official can take the final decision.
Earlier the Government of India has received the feedback about the condition of engineering in India, which produces seven lakh students annually from 3,000-odd registered technical institutes. The data of engineering in India show a skewed standard and only 20% to 30% engineering students gets a decent job which is directly affecting the country's employability factor.
“We want to check their aptitude, skills and critical thinking and not just theory. The exit examination will be focused entirely on that. This will give us a feedback on the teaching standards at these institutes too. We will be able to suggest remedial measures as it will help in identifying the colleges which require teacher training etc.,” said an official source from the human resource development (HRD) Ministry.
There are thousands of engineering institutes across the country and they use different tools and techniques to teach and test the skill of students. To test their attainment levels, said sources, a committee has suggested making Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) examination mandatory for all students passing out of various engineering colleges. “It will help assess standards of education in each institution, and we will be able to make changes accordingly,” said the source.
Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is an aptitude test for admission in M. Tech program in various IITs in India. It is jointly conducted by Indian Institute of Science and seven Indian Institutes of Technology. The candidates may have to take GATE as a mandatory exit test, and the final statement is still under planning.
After final approval of the proposal and exit exam is conducted, the result of the exit test will be shared with institutes to help them devise techniques to improvise their education structure. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) will have to organise a regulation body so that the entire institute follow the rule. If any institution does not follow the exit test, it is possible they might lose the approval of their Institute.
