States have given their nod to set up National Education Finance Corporation. This is an important decision to give impetus to higher education in the country. The proposed corporation will provide loans at 4 per cent interest to the students whose parental income is less than 4.5 lakh rupees a year. Briefing reporters after the end of state education minister’s conference, the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Mr. Kapil Sibal said in New Delhi on Friday that the idea was hailed by the Education Ministers and now the process for setting up the corporation will start. <br/> <br/>Mr. Sibal said that a proposal to merge the All India Entrance Examination for engineering and medical courses, AIEEE, AIPMT was mooted in the conference. He added, the objective is to reduce the stress of examinations on children and provide a level playing field to all students irrespective of their background as coaching for the entrance examinations has become costlier.<br/>