Admissions to engineering colleges in the state during the forthcoming academic year (AY) 2013-14 will be based on the

common entrance test (CET) to be conducte d by the state government. On Wednesday, the state cabinet approved the departme nt of higher and technical education's (H&TE) proposal which provides that the s tate should join the HRD ministry's single entrance test, called the national jo int entrance exam (JEE), for engineering admissions from AY 2014-15. The H&TE proposal also provides for a 50:50 relative weightage to performance in the JEE Main and the school board marks, as the basis for drafting the merit li st for engineering admissions in the state. Only the marks scored in physics, ch emistry and mathematics will be considered for the 50% school board weightage. The Indian Statistical Institute is working on a formula for normalisation of ma rks for different school boards including the CBSE, ICSE, IGCSE, IB and state bo ards. The cabinet's decision puts to rest all speculation over when the state is to join the JEE, which will commence from AY 2013-14 primarily for the centrall y-funded technical institutions (CFTIs) like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), NITs, NIITs etc. During his visit to the city last month, H&TE minister Rajesh Tope had sounded o ut the department's plan to recommend the JEE for the state from 2014-15 and a 5 0:50 relative weightage to performance in JEE Main and school board. It may be n oted that the ministry's plan involves conduct of JEE in stages, i.e. the JEE Ma in and JEE Advanced, the last named is for admissions to the coveted IITs. The m inistry had left it for the respective states to decide their own plan about whe n to join the JEE and what relative weightage to adopt.