Open book examination can dynamically change the very concept of examinations.
National-level council for technical education in India: The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has unleashed an educational reform in India when it comes to engineering exams.
In a landmark decision, AICTE has decided to allow books inside the examination hall.
Will this help engineering students?
Meanwhile, AICTE has confirmed that GATE is not mandatory for engineering students, for exit exam.
Books Will Be Allowed During Exams: AICTE
Very soon, engineering students will be allowed to take their books with them, while writing examinations in their colleges.
AICTE-approved colleges will soon announce this for all engineering students.
Traditionally, exams have been conducted with a focus on memorizing the content in the books, and reproduce them in the answers sheet. But with Google now available in practical life (and in a job), this exam for reproducing knowledge has become old-fashioned.
AICTE now wants to see and judge what students can do with that information, rather than reproducing that information.
Ashok Shettar, chairperson AICTE committee on examination reform and vice chancellor KLE Technological University confirmed this, as he said, “The way we conduct exams traditionally only assesses students based on their ability to reproduce knowledge. Through these guidelines, we aim to reform the way we assess our students. We are aiming to match the assessment system with the outcome-based framework our education and industry has adopted based on performance indicators.”
AICTE approved colleges have been asked to prepare question papers differently now, which will focus on ‘application of the information and develop problem-solving abilities in students.’
This is part of Examination Reforms Policy by AICTE. Besides Open Book Examination, there will other reforms too, such as mandatory internships, research work, group projects and more.
Shettar said, “Our traditional system is unable to access students based on these soft skills including teamwork, communication skills, et al.”
AICTE: GATE Is Not Mandatory For Exit Exams
Earlier this month, rumors had started floating that from now on, GATE will become mandatory for all engineering students, sitting for exit exams.
This meant that an engineering student will not be able to get his degree unless he/she has a GATE score. Till now, GATE has always been an optional exam.
GATE is no doubt a very prominent examination of undergraduate students, conducted by Indian Institute of Science and seven Indian Institutes of Technologies at Roorkee, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Chennai (Madras) and Mumbai (Bombay) on behalf of the National Coordination Board – GATE, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), Government of India.
Mainly, GATE is used for applying in post-graduate programmes, and in some cases of recruitments (by public and private firms), GATE score is considered to filter out eligible candidates.
This news of GATE being compulsory was published by Indian Express, and soon became viral.
AICTE has issued a press release, saying that this news is completely false. They have said that GATE is not compulsory for exit exams.
Here is the press release from AICTE.
Do you think that to filter out eligible candidates, GATE exam should be made compulsory? Do let us know by commenting right here!
