AICTE permits open book exams for engineering students

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) will soon allow books during engineering examinations. From 2019 onwards, the engineering students of AICTE-approved colleges might get an opportunity to appear for open book exam.

AICTE has recently approved examination reforms policy including open book exam, wherein students will be allowed to refer to books in examination halls. This move will improve the quality of engineering education in India. 

Ashok Shettar, chairperson AICTE committee on examination reform and vice chancellor KLE Technological University, said, "The way we conduct exams traditionally only assesses students based on their ability to reproduce knowledge. Through these guidelines, we aim to reform the way we assess our students. We are aiming to match the assessment system with the outcome-based framework our education and industry has adopted based on performance indicators."

"If we have to say 12 indicators for our engineering graduates, half of them do not belong to technical traits. Our traditional system is unable to access students based on these soft skills including teamwork, communication skills, et al," Shettar added.