Education Headlines - 17th January, 2011

AICTE Now Bans Important MBA Entrance Exams Such As XAT, ATMA And MICAT

A shocking reform introduced by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has put a ban to important MBA entrance exams such as the XAT, ATMA or MICAT as entry points to PGDM programs in AICTE-approved B-schools. Only CAT, MAT and state-run exams (such as the Maharashtra CET) will be accepted by AICTE affiliated business schools. However, Dr Prabhat Kumar Sahoo, Director and regional officer of AICTE, Western Region said that he was sending in his suggestion to include XAT in the list so it may stay as one of the entrance exams for B-schools.

Source: 8th January, 2011, C2clive.com Compiled by www.shiksha.com

Madras HC Grants Interim Stay To National Medical Entrance Exams In Tamil Nadu

The Madras High Court granted interim stay on the Medical Council of India's (MCI) notification on Thursday, which means that the single national entrance exams or CET for admissions to the MBBS and Post Graduate Medical Courses in Tamil Nadu will not be conducted this year. HC also stated that conducting CET throughout India without reference to different streams of education prevailing in different states is highly arbitrary and illegal, and pointed out that the Dr M Ananthakrishnan Committee had suggested its abolition.

Source: 7th January, 2011, Express Buzz Compiled by www.shiksha.com

AICTE Allots 20% Quota In Professional Colleges For Polytechnic Students

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has introduced new reform to allot a 20% quota, instead of 10% quota available previously, for polytechnic students in professional colleges. In Andaman Nicobar, Lakshadweep and Diu Daman, the quota for polytechnic students is 30%. The diploma holder students will also get admission directly in the second year of the degree course. The council has also allowed these institutes to start a separate batch of up to 60 students, only for polytechnic students that are allowed lateral entry in the professional degree courses.

Source: 7th January, 2011, Hindustan Times Compiled by www.shiksha.com

IIMs, Finally, Reveal Their Scoring Methods

With Engineers gaining perfect percentiles, IIMs have faced a lot of public wrath and litigation forcing them to reveal the CAT scoring patterns just a day after CAT 2010 results were announced. The CAT website says that each correct answer is awarded three points while a point is deducted for wrong answers to calculate raw scores. The website also reveals methods it uses to equate these raw scores and the scaling model it uses. Besides, all IIMs have also published the list of candidates they have shortlisted based on their CAT results.

Source: 14th January, 2011, Catiim.in

SC Gives Another Opportunity To 44 Deemed Universities Under Threat

The Supreme Court has offered a temporary relief to 44 deemed universities, with an enrollment of nearly 2 lakh students, which were under the threat of being de-recognized because of the deficiencies in their infrastructure, faculty and other facilities. The court has given two weeks' time to the central government to issue notices to these universities, pointing out the deficiencies, and offering them another opportunity to remove them. The universities will have another two weeks to reply to the notices.

Source: 11th January, 2011, Newkerala.com

Study On Net Will Be Possible For All In Next Two Years: Kapil Sibal

According to the Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, the government has planned to lay out fibre obtics connecting every village and city of India to facilitate the students to opt for education right from their homes in the next two years. All the colleges will be linked to the top universities in the country through Internet. The expenditure for the project has been estimated to be around Rs 1,000 crore. The move will help about 20 crore students who have no access to higher education today.

Source: 12th January, 2011, Newkerala.com