IIT-JEE REFORM

The IIT-JEE panel committee comprising of IIT-Kharagpur, IIT-Madras, and IIT-Bombay and IIT-Roorkee directors submitted a report insisting on 70 percent weightage to be given to Class XII performance of students while selecting them for admission to any one of the 15 IITs.The panel committee further said for IIT-JEE entrance test to be replaced by a National Aptitude Test (NAT) which will be considered as a comprehensive examination to test the students’ inner talent abilities than confining it to certain specific subjects or objective type questions.The NAT examination being put forward for consideration by the ministry will have questions from all streams of Std XII level, Science and Humanities. About 40,000 students will be shortlisted, who secure good scores in NAT for once again attempting an add-on test to be eligible for admission to any of the 15 IITs.Now, the IITs are acquiring students on the basis of cut-off percent prepared in view of the marks scored by students in IIT Joint Entrance Examination. Consideration of Class XII marks in the cut-off would ensure that meritorious students get into the IIT stream.The HRD ministry and Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) seem headed for a confrontation over drastic examination reforms proposed by a panel of IIT directors. The ministry is unlikely to allow the IITs a two-tier entrance exam structure, as proposed by a panel headed by IIT-Kharagpur director Damodar Acharya.The two-tier structure suggested by the IITs comprises a common aptitude test and an additional test for those who cross the first hurdle. The additional test was proposed to accommodate the faculty, who are against scrapping the JEE. Over 1,300 IIT alumni too have petitioned the government against abolishing the JEE. But it had also said it needed further consultations with stakeholders and may fine-tune its recommendations. After the faculty opposed scrapping JEE, the panel suggested an additional test. It hoped JEE could continue as this additional test.