The Education Department of Gujarat has issued a government resolution stating that the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) has been replaced with Gujarat Common Entrance Test (GujCET). The new resolution of the government will come into force from the next academic session, i.e., beginning 2017, for the students in Gujarat.
This year, Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) was conducted for the admission to UG engineering, pharmacy and diploma pharmacy courses. Since 2013, JEE had been carried out as a common entrance test for these courses. However, the latest provision of the government abolished JEE and replaced it with GUjCET. Ashoksinh Parmar, Deputy Secretary of Higher and Technical Education, has signed the resolution and it will come into effect from the academic session 2017.
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The government did not take the individual decision regarding GUjCET. It took opinions from stakeholders, parents and guardians. The new resolution of the government came as a sigh of relief to the candidates who do not want to go outside their home state for studies.
The admissions to professional and engineering courses for the academic session 2016 did not receive a positive response. Around 1.44 lakh seats in engineering and professional courses are vacant. The higher education scenario has gone into an unknown state in Gujarat as 53.7% of seats are lying vacant. Last year too, the same situation prevailed where 53% of seats were vacant.
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At this juncture, the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) is planning to increase the number of seats. There would be no use of increasing seats in engineering and professional courses. Instead, DTE shall focus on reducing the intake.