Gujarat ready to accept engg JEE,only if IIT are part of it

Addressing the State Education Ministers’ Conference and Central Advisory Board of Education under the chairmanship of Union Minister for Human Resources Development Kapil Sibal,Gujarat’s Education Minister Ramanlal Vora said Gujarat will comply with the HRD Ministry’s proposal only when IITs,which are so far resenting the move,are part of the JEE.

Vora said if they are not part of JEE,the state government has no reason to join the JEE. The main purpose of removing multiple entrance tests would be lost if IITs are not in the project,he said in a statemnet.

Gujarat Education Minister also supported the Ministry’s decision to count the marks of Higher Secondary for admission.

“This,we believe will remove regional imbalance and the urban bias in the selection procedure for IITs,” the ministersaid.

He said the state governments would eventually decide the weightage for Higher Secondary marks in the selection procedure for the state institution,but it will not be less than 40 per cent in any case.

The Gujarat Minister asked the Centre to shoulder equal financial burden with states to implement RTE Act.

Vora also pointed out that the issue of revenue sharing (of exam fees collected) between the Centre and states needs

to be sorted out since the examination will be conducted by a single body at the central level.

Referring to RTE and guidelines of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan,he said that central government has not been meeting financial obligations for full and within statutory time limit implementation of RTE.

“It is neither meeting full provisions in the budget,nor releasing its share fully and on time. It has also not been made fully compatible with the requirement of RTE Act. While implementation of elementary education is equal and oint responsibility of central and state governments,the full expenditure should also be shared on equal basis,” the Gujarat Minister said.

States currently bear roughly 85 per cent of expenditure

on elementary education,while the Centre shoulders only about 15 per cent expenditure.

The state government is fully committed for implementation of the RTE Act in right earnest but the central government should release its share fully and on timely basis and should not impose any financial constraints as far as requirement of fund under Act is concerned,Vora said,adding,this is now a legal obligation apart from being a moral and political obligation.

Vora demanded that the central government should also bear 100 per cent expenditure on account of fees to be paid to the private unaided schools for admission of the 25 per cent children belonging to disadvantaged and economically weaker sections of society.

The Gujarat Minister also discussed other issues on revised teacher education scheme,setting up Model Schools under PPP,setting up of community colleges,national mission on teachers’ and teaching. Gujarat’s Principal Secretary (Education) Hasmukh Adhia and Secretary (Primary Education) R P Gupta also participated in the conference.