GATE and NET may be carrying on by Centralized Body

Tuesday, March 26, 2013, GATE and NET to be a centralized exam the government of higher education has announced that it is under plans to conduct national level entrance test such as gate and net under a centralized body.

An official said that the plan shall be placed in front of the union cabinet for approval after being discussed at the upcoming central advisory board of education meet which is to be held on April 2.

As per the union HRD minister, M.M Pallam Raju, the national testing agency would prepare question papers, conduct examinations and create a data bank. However, joining the body would not be made mandatory and membership would be by choices. Also, the Higher Education Secretary Ashok Thakur disclosed that the body could be operational as early as next year onwards and may be used to conduct the NET and GATE examinations.

As per the secretary, once the process of testing has been computerized, any test can be held many times a year. Ashok also said that there was a complete agreement on the proposal and discussions with the CBSE, GATE management (board) as well as testing agencies like pro-metric had also begun. A special purpose vehicle for the implementation of the proposal was also set up.