Ahmedabad: One step forward, two steps back. This could well sum up the vision of the Gujarat government towards higher education, after it rolled back two of its policy decisions on Monday. On one hand, it abolished the semester system, and on the other, it made the national entrance exam, JEE, optional while reintroducing GujCET for admissions to engineering and pharmacy colleges in the state.

The semester system was introduced in 2009 with claims that it would drastically reduce the burden of board exams - especially in class XI and class XII science stream.

In 2013, Gujarat government was one of the first states to volunteer to join JEE proposed by then Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal as a single, common exam for engineering admissions.

The state government had justified the move by claiming it would push state students to prepare well and compete at the national level. Figures were bandied about in support of this move - from 250 students to qualifiy for admission in IITs and NITs in 2013, the numbers jumped to 750 in 2014 after JEE was adopted. In 2015, the number of students qualifying for IITs went up to 550 in the state. This year, a record 11,000 students from the state took the JEE (advanced).

Ironically, Gujarat government's act of making the common test for engineering optional comes at a time when the Union government, as well as the apex court, have rooted for a common entrance test, NEET, for medical and dental admissions all across India. So what went wrong? Why is JEE, which has led to more students from Gujarat emerge as winners in the national scene being made optional? Why are students being burdened with two exams - JEE and GujCET?

Experts say there is a clear lack of policy vision in the state, as far as higher education is concerned. "State government seems to be experimenting with policies. Is education a subject for experiments," asked the principal of a reputed school.

Education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama accepted that the move was driven by demands made by students, parents and teachers. "There was a growing sentiment against JEE and semester system, which we have acknowledged," he said.

Detractors say the government currently seems more driven by public reaction and feelings in the run-up to the 2017 elections, especially after a drubbing in the panchayat elections, where it lost ground to the Congress. "There prevails a sentiment that rural students are not comfortable with JEE, which has put them at a disadvantage in seeking admission to good colleges in the state. Rural areas have no good coaching centres or even teachers. The move to reintroduce GujCEt is apparently political," said a leading technical educationist.

Experts say it is high time the state government focuses on capacity building rather than placating sentiments. "After being pushed to the corner, the government has announced it would supply supplementary material to match class XI, and XII syllabus with the CBSE, and provide coaching for the NEET. Why can't it do the same for JEE?" asked an educationist.



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