New Delhi, Oct 13 : Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal Tuesday said the new central universities should conduct a common entrance test for admissions, while having different courses from one another.

"The new central universities should look at conducting a common entrance test for admission to their courses, to enable common counselling so that students and their families are saved the trouble of going to various locations for tests and counselling," Sibal said.

The minister was addressing a meeting of the vice chancellors of the new central universities in Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and the three former state universities in Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh that have been conferred central universities status.

Sibal said that the central universities must become benchmarks for academic excellence in the rest of the country.

"The universities must have different courses, such that are in conformity with the eco-system of the region. Essentially, different universities specialising in different courses will encourage students to come to a particular university which will be associated with a particular course," he said.

For this purpose, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has been asked to set up a panel to coordinate with universities, to ensure "there are fewer number of common courses".

Sibal also stressed that "university campuses should be as green as possible", while the buildings must be "world class and aesthetic".

The minister also announced each university would be provided with one gigabyte of broadband connectivity. (IANS)