Thiruvananthapuram: Seven agencies have expressed interest in response to an invitation for tender for conducting computer based entrance tests for admission to the engineering courses. Now, the government will decide which among these agencies would be roped in to conduct the entrance tests.
Instead of the two papers, the authorities mull conducting a single exam that is three hours long. There will be separate exam for admission to the pharmacy courses. Currently, only those who write the first paper of the engineering entrance are eligible for admission to the pharmacy courses. K Imbasekhar, commissioner for entrance examinations has proposed to conduct the exam twice, in January and May, every year. The highest score among the two tests would be taken as the final score for ranking. The government would take the final decision in this matter. Besides, it has been suggested to introduce the percentile scoring system, in the model of the All – India entrance tests.
When the candidates log in, the details including their roll number would come up on the computer screen. Presently, the entrance test is conducted in the OMR method where the applicants darken the bubbles. However, in the new method, the candidates can change their answers at any stage before the time is up. Moreover, this makes result publication quicker too. Mock tests too can be conducted like this.
JEE Main model
The computer based exam would be conducted as batches. The rank list, meanwhile, would be prepared based on a scientific assessment process. Currently, the rank list is prepared by assessing the score of the entrance test and the marks scored by the candidate for plus two. The authorities plan to conduct the computer based test in the model of JEE Main. There will be negative marks for wrong answer.
The test of 300 marks will have questions from Physics, Chemistry and Maths. As this is a choice based exam, the candidate need to answer just 75 questions from three subjects.