450 - The new IIT JEE pattern: A necessary revamp or a major disaster?

The new IIT JEE pattern: A necessary revamp or a major disaster?

By DU Beat Editor

From Buzz around Delhi, New Delhi

Posted Sep 1st 2012 12:00PM

Education, literacy and entrance examinations have always been a subject of popular debate in our country, with thousands of student its aspiring every year to get through some of the best educational institutes of the country, like the IITs, NITs, AIIMS, etc. The Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE) has always been an elusive examination for most students, with lakhs of students preparing every year to attain the coveted tag of being an IITian, with only 1% getting through. The IIT JEE examination is considered the toughest engineering entrance examination in Asia, and those who crack it pride themselves in doing so.

In May 2012, the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister, Kapil Sibal announced a revamp of the IIT JEE examination, with the inclusion of all the major engineering entrance examinations of the country into one single examination- Indian Science Engineering Eligibility Test (ISEET). The new pattern consisted of two examinations- the ISEET Main and the ISEET Advanced. The top 40,000 students of the ISEET Main examination would be allowed to appear for the ISEET Advanced, which granted admission to the premier institutes of engineering like the IIT's and NIT's. However, ranks would be determined by taking 50% of the score of the advanced examination and 50% of the class 12 board examination results.

This proposal had earlier been pending in the Parliament, but was passed this May, causing uproar throughout the country. Students as well as parents protested against the inclusion of the class 12 board examination marks and the IIT senates immediately condemned this decision of the government. IIT Delhi moved the High court two weeks after the declaration of this decree. IIT Kanpur moved a step ahead and announced its very own entrance test from 2013.

Amidst this entire confusion, there were hotly contested debates on various public forums, with writers like Chetan Bhagat and Directors of 'prestigious' coaching institutes condemning the decision to include the class 12 board marks and they labelled this move as an attempt to lower the standard of the IIT's, which are the pride of India. The IIT senates felt extremely insulted by this impeachment on their autonomy. A student studying in a coaching centre in Mumbai said, " I took a drop after my class 12 to prepare for IIT JEE, and I hadn't fared very well in my boards as I was busy preparing for IIT JEE. Now that the pattern has changed, does the government expect me to go back and give my class 12 boards again? Before, cracking the JEE was important. Now, if class 12 marks determine our ranks, then where will students who have taken a gap year go?"

However, the Director of the Vidyalankar group of coaching classes felt that this decision was a wise move. With coaching classes branching out all over the country, IIT JEE had become an examination for conditioned mind sets, not academic brilliance. With the implementation of the ISEET, students would become more serious about attending school and performing well in the boards. The practice of integrated school- cum- coaching classes like Bansals and Narayana would soon disappear and students could again go back and enjoy their school days – something they deserved and which they should not be averse to. He also added that his coaching centre offers coaching for both class 12 and IIT JEE. Looks like business strategies are changing as fast as the education system.

With increasing dissent all over the country and a complete deadlock over the course of the future of thousands of children sitting for the entrance examination in 2013, Kapil Sibal organized a meeting with the IIT directors and finally came to a consensus about the pattern of the ISEET examination. The proposal for 50% weightage on class 12 board marks was scrapped and it was decided that students in the top 20% of their board would be allowed to sit for ISEET Advanced. The number of students eligible to sit for ISEET Advanced now increased to 1,50,000. The agitation slowly died down, as the decision makers came to a consensus without taking the views of the children into account, which is usually always the case when it comes to education. Take the implementation of the semester system in Delhi University as an example.

With the ISEET implemented, the students still haven't received any intimation in regard to the pattern of the new exam and are still in the loop about whether their board marks will be scaled down while assessing their ranks or not. We can now just wait and watch the outcome of this new exam- a political gimmick, most people say, before the 2014 elections. Whether it will be a huge disaster like the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for medicine (NEET), which was a complete failure last year, or a success...only time will tell.

Ankita Mukhopadhyay

ankitam@dubeat.com

404 - Engineering: One test too many -bDeccan Chronicle

Engineering: One test too many
July 10, 2012
By Arun George | Sabloo Thomas
DC
Thiruvananthapuram

Students come out after this year’s entrance examination in Kochi. —DC

The suspense over the entrance test for admissions to Centrally-funded engineering colleges has finally ended with the Human Resources Development (HRD) ministry and the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) arriving at a consensus over the new 'one nation, one test' format for seats in all Centrally-funded engineering colleges, including the 10,000 IIT seats that over five lakh students vie for every year.

But the formula arrived at after a debate of almost a year, is unlikely to have satisfied HRD minister Kapil Sibal who was rooting for a single test for admissions to all engineering colleges.

With states preferring to keep their options open still , the first edition of the common engineering entrance examination scheduled to roll out in 2013 will probably cover only Centrally-funded technical institutions like the 15 Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), 30 National Institutes of Technology (NIT), Indian Institutes of Information Technology, Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) and a few deemed universities, in its first year.

Also, giving in to the demand of IITs, an advance test will be held on a different day from the main for admissions to them, with only the top 1.50 lakh candidates from the latter qualifying to appear for it.

The HRD ministry has bowed to the IITs and dropped the idea of considering Class XII marks for admissions to them as well.

Instead only the top 20 percentile students of the respective Class XII board examinations will be allowed to take the proposed common engineering exam in 2013.

Educationist R V G Menon is all for selecting students with high percentile for the IIT entrance test as he feels this gives board examinations their due.
"Students today dont take their board examinations seriously enough because of the many coaching centres for IIT entrance tests in places like Kotta, Rajasthan and Delhi," he regrets.

Co-ordinator of the CBSE-ICSE Parents Forum Association, Dr N K Sanil Kumar, is however, worried the decision to allow only the top 20 percentile students of a board to appear for the IIT advanced test may act against the interest of students following the tougher CBSE and ICSE syllabi.
"But it is better than the mark normalisation process followed for some other entrance examinations, including some in Kerala, " he adds.

The rationale behind the common entrance exam for engineering colleges is to reduce both the psychological and financial stress on students because of multiple entrance tests and give greater importance to Class XII results.
Currently, there are 15 lakh engineering colleges across the country and more than 150 entrance tests are conducted for admission to them.
Besides the joint entrance examination conducted by the IITs and the AIEEE held by CBSE, all states have their own engineering examinations as do several deemed universities and private institutes.


Only top 20 percentile can appear for test
Revised Proposal

Following the opposition from the IIT Faculty Federation against considering the normalized percentile scores of class XII for shortlisting students for the JEE-Advanced test, the HRD ministry revised the proposal to allow only top 20 percentile students from each state board to appear for the screening test.
Other engineering colleges will use a 40:30:30 formula - with class XII board results counting for 40 per cent and the two stages of the entrance exam counting for 30 per cent each.

The new entrance format was to come into force from 2013. It will be restricted to central institutions as the states have not yet agreed to the common entrance test.


Initial Proposal
The initial proposal was to include normalised percentile scores of class XII board examination and JEE-Main test while shortlisting candidates for the JEE-Advanced test.

This allowed students with relatively lesser marks in board examinations to make up for the IITs by performing better in the screening test.
The new proposal is against the original aim of encouraging students to pay equal attention to the board examinations. The new proposal would deprive 80 percentile of students even an opportunity to appear for IITs.

403 - Maha confusion over engineering admissions - DNA

Maha confusion over engineering admissions

Published: Monday, Jul 9, 2012, 8:40 IST
By Pallavi Smart | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA    

Even as the row over the implementation of a single national entrance test for engineering institutes across the country from 2013 seems to have ended, the state government’s unclear policy over admission to engineering institutes in the state has students confused.

A common national entrance test for admission into engineering colleges across the country proposed by theUnion HRD ministry has finally been approved with some alterations and will be implemented in 2013.

The IITs have declared that they will be considering the score of advanced test conducted by them for shortlisted candidates after the main examination where a candidate will have to be among top 20% scorers of their respective boards to be eligible for seat in IIT.

However, lakhs of students are waiting for the state government to announce how engineering admissions will be conducted in the state.

“There was so much discussion about admission into IITs and NITs. What about admission to regular engineering colleges?Like me, there are many others who are focused on admission to regular such colleges, admission to which was traditionally done through the state CET and AIEEE score,” said Jheenal Shah, a Kandivli resident.

321 - More opposition to Sibal's common entrance test - TOI

More opposition to Sibal's common entrance test

Manash Pratim Gohain, TNN Jun 18, 2012, 05.52PM IST

NEW DELHI: More opposition to the common entrance test (CET) for admissions to engineering colleges, including the Indian Institutes of Technologies (IITs) and National Institute of Technologies (NITs), is coming forth.

Even as the union government rules out going back on the CET proposal, member of parliament Bhalchandra Mungekar while terming the situation arising out of the proposal as alarming questioned the need for implementing the proposal on 'war footing'. In his letter to Kapil Sibal, minister for Human Resource Development, Mungekar suggested that the present system of admissions to the IITs should continue for the academic year 2012-13.

According to HRD sources, the former planning commission member who was responsible for the policy draft on higher education for the 11th five-year plan and now a Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha, Mungekar on June 13 wrote to Sibal saying, "avoiding multiplicity of CETs and facilitating the entry of the poor into the IIT system are worth considering, they do not warrant an emergency decision to the extent that the IIT fraternity prepares to move the court against the MHRD and the MHRD, in turn, examines the legal status of the IIT senates and the Board of Governors. This scenario does not augur well."

The MHRD proposed a CET for admission to engineering colleges across the country. The proposal was to merge the IIT-Joint Entrance Exam (IIT-JEE) and All Indian Engineering Entrance Exam (conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education) and also to take into account the performance of the aspirants during board exams at school level for admission to the various engineering courses. The move was opposed by various senates of the IITs and the alumni associations. In fact, IIT Kanpur decided to conduct its own entrance exam, while majority of the states too were not keen on joining the CET.

Urging the MHRD to be more thoughtful and that well-informed decision could be taken in the course of time that would address the concerns of the IIT fraternity, mainly the issue of autonomy, Mungekar wrote, "... everyone in the country is well aware that our IITs and IIMs are the country's brand educational institutions recognized the world over. They have taken more than five decades to become what they are today. It is well recognized that complete academic autonomy enjoyed by these institutions played an overwhelming important role in influencing their performance."

"... let me submit that issue of one CET for the IITs and NITs, and considering marks of the HSC exam need not be taken on war footing," added the former vice chancellor of Mumbai University. ##

314 - One nation, One test - DEccan Herald

One nation, One test

Prakash Kumar, June 16, 2012

Common Entrance Test: Some IITs refuse to come under the ambit of CET saying it is flawed

With the vision of relieving aspiring engineers from the burden of writing multiple admission tests, the government recently decided to conduct a joint entrance examination for entry into all centrally-funded engineering colleges, including Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), from 2013.

The Human Resource Development Ministry planned to launch the new common entrance test, unanimously approved by the apex IIT Council, National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and Indian Institutes of Information Technology, at a joint meeting held in the national capital on May 28.

But, the implementation of the proposed test, which seeks to merge IIT-JEE (Joint Entrance Examination for admission to IITs) and AIEEE (All India Engineering Entrance Examination), has encountered a major roadblock as a section of the faculty, students and alumni of the IITs are up in arms against the examination format, citing several lacunae.

The joint entrance examination proposal has its genesis in the ‘in-principle’ approval accorded to it by the Council of IITs in its meeting held on September 14 last year.

This was based on the T Ramasami Committee report, which recommended a common national examination with weightage to marks obtained in the state board exams, and normalised on the basis of percentile formula developed by the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. 

Though many IIT faculty members and alumni did not favour a common test, an opinion poll on the Ramasami report, conducted through the Central Government’s portal last year, saw 85 per cent of the participants favouring the reforms in the current entrance test system, while 73 per cent supported holding a national test like the scholastic aptitude test conducted in the United States.

IIT faculty came up with differing views on the proposed normalisation of the Board marks through percentile formula, weightage to be given to the Board examination, eligibility criteria, methodology of selection and the year of  introduction of the proposed test.

A faculty member of IIT-Kanpur contended that the one nation one test would put rural children at a disadvantage as it  was bound to have elements of the existing JEE that tests conceptual rigour. Rural students are not exposed to the kind of rigour needed to understand fundamental principles in any domain. However, a majority of the respondents (66 per cent), who participated in the opinion poll, had favoured giving weightage to overall and consistent performance in examinations of school boards.

All the states had consented to the proposed common test, and many, including Maharashtra and Gujarat, expressed their eagerness to adopt it in the technical institutions coming under their jurisdiction.

Even as the government was giving a final shape to the proposed reforms in February this year, the Senates of the various IITs reviewed the proposal between April 25 and May 5.

Of the seven old IITs, the Senates of IIT Guwahati, Kharagpur, Madras and Roorkee supported the proposed joint entrance examination. IIT Bombay proposed to retain the present system “with minor modifications”, while IIT Kanpur’s Senate wanted “substantial modification”, an HRD Ministry official told Deccan Herald.

The views of the IIT Senates were placed before the IIT Council held on May 12, and again at the joint meeting of the Council with NITs and IIITs on May 28.

The Council in its May 12 meeting observed: “By and large,  the middle ground of opinions expressed by  IIT Senates recommend that the Class XII Board results along with the National Test (Mains) be considered as screening or gating with the National Test (Advanced  level) being solely used for ranking purposes for  admission to undergraduate programmes.”

It also took note of the proposals of some of the Senates that a limited number of candidates (about five times the number of seats for admission in the IIT system) from the screening be considered eligible to appear in the Advanced test to be conducted by the IITs. It further agreed that the details of the Advanced test would be finalised in due course of time through discussion among the IITs so that it could be implemented from the year 2014.

Subsequently, the members of the Council decided to adopt the two-part joint entrance examination  to be held on the same day, from year 2013. 

Under this two-tier selection procedure, the Council allowed the IITs to first assess candidates on the basis of the JEE Main and their Class XII marks normalised on percentile basis,  giving equal weightage to both, and screen a fixed number of students. The Council made it clear that the ranking for admission to undergraduate programmes in IITs would be based entirely on the performance in JEE-Advanced by the screened candidates.

But for other Centrally funded technical institutions (CFTIs), it was decided that they would continue to be governed by the proposed policy of ranking based on 40 per cent weightage to Class XII Board marks, 30 per cent weightage to performance in JEE-Mains and another 30 per cent weightage for performance in JEE-Advanced.

The Council decided that both JEE-Main and JEE-Advanced tests would be objective and multiple choice type. It was agreed that the Joint Admission Board (JAB) of the IIT system would have “complete control” over the academic components of the test such as paper setting, evaluation and preparation of the merit list, among others, while the CBSE will provide the administrative and logistic support for the conduct of examination across the country.

But, this did not convince opponents of the common test. The Council’s decision was dubbed as an “attack on the autonomy” of IITs by their alumni association. The All India IIT Faculty Federation has sought that the government restore IITs’ autonomy by “officially” seeking ratification or acceptance from the various IIT Senates on the joint entrance examination finalised by IIT Council.

The Senate of IIT-Kanpur has raised a banner of revolt against the Council’s decision and even passed a resolution to hold its own examination for admissions to the institution’s under graduate programmes in 2013.

The Senate authorised the Institute’s director to set up a committee in consultation with the dean of academics for finalising the modalities of the entrance examination. The committee, to the extent possible, shall coordinate with other IITs to conduct the test jointly. The resolution passed by the Senate, however, is subject to approval by the Board of Governors of the IIT before it comes into effect, as per the Institute of Technology Act, 1961.

Legal route

The IIT Alumni Association has threatened to move court against the IIT Council decision.

Association president Somnath Bharti contended that under the IT Act, the IIT Council can only advice or recommend. It is the Senate of each IIT which has powers to promulgate ordinance relating to various matters, including admissions, which, of course, has to be approved by the Board of Governors.

HRD Ministry officials, however, counter the argument stating that the IIT Council can lay down policy under the IT Act in “matters of common interest”, and issue of admissions to the IITs is a matter of common interest. “IIT Council is the highest decision making body of the IITs,” an official said.

155 - India a step closer to single entrance test for engineering - Live Mint

India a step closer to single entrance test for engineering

Prashant K. Nanda , prashant.n@livemint.com

IIndia moved closer on Monday to putting in place a single entrance test for admission to engineering colleges nationwide.

The move will ease the stress on students, diminish the importance of the entrance test coaching businesses and re-emphasize the importance of class XII board examinations across the country.

After over two years of talks to sort out differences, the human resource development (HRD) ministry, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), and other leading engineering and technology colleges finally struck a compromise on Monday and decided to adopt a common engineering entrance exam beginning 2013.

To be sure, the move will be complete only if all state governments sign onto the deal and bring state-level entrance examinations for engineering institutions under the purview of the common entrance exam. Currently, each state conducts its own entrance examination.

“With complete unanimity, we have now decided to go for the common entrance exam from 2013,” HRD minister Kapil Sibal said after a meeting with the councils of central government-funded technical institutions (CFTIs).

The CFTIs comprise 15 IITs, the Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University, the Indian School of Mines at Dhanbad, 30 National Institutes of Technology (NITs), five Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs), architecture schools and several other leading engineering colleges. At least 1.6 million students sit for several tests for admission to these prestigious schools.

As part of the compromise formula, the selection will be based on three tests—the class XII board exam, the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) main exam and the JEE advanced exam. All the CFTIs, except IITs, will give direct weightage to these three sets of examination in the proportion of 40:30:30, respectively.

For IITs, the class XII board exam and JEE main exam will work as a filter to screen students. The top 50,000 students thus screened will be eligible for admission to IITs; their ranking though will be based on the advanced test that is conducted on the same day as the JEE main.

“Based on this all-India JEE ranking, students will get admission in an IIT,” said Gautam Barua, director of IIT Guwahati.

Sibal said that the ministry accepted the demand of IITs that the board exam marks will not have a direct bearing on the selection process and the JEE advanced exam will be completely administered by IITs with technical help from the Central Board of Secondary Education.

“We have accepted their core demand,” Sibal said, adding that though he wanted the board exam to have a direct impact on selection, he did not force the issue in the face of consistent opposition from IITs. “I did not want to say (it), but this is the truth.”

So, how will this work out? There will be two rankings—one for IITs and one for other CFTIs. “So one may not get into IITs, yet has a chance of getting through CFTIs,” said Sanjay Dhande, director of IIT Kanpur.

While the HRD ministry said in a statement that the nature of the IIT advanced exam will be decided by the Joint Admission Board of IITs, Dhande said IITs may adopt a multiple-choice formula for the advanced exam as well.

“Making the advanced exam subjective will need a lot of resources (to verify the papers). Hence, we may make it objective, much more difficult than what it is today and with many more options than just four to evaluate the student’s knowledge base,” he added.

For starters, IITs face a faculty crunch in the range of 20-30%. At the undergraduate level, 15 IITs admit nearly 7,500 students every year after screening nearly 500,000 aspirants.

Sibal said the move will pave the way for a single entrance exam for all engineering colleges in the country and he would take this up with state education ministers and other stakeholders at a high-level meeting on 5-6 June. “We have information that Gujarat, Haryana and Maharashtra are going to adopt this national formula and we hope other states will follow after the education ministers’ meet,” he added.

The minister said that the multiplicity of exams that a student intending to pursue a course in engineering has to appear for, has been a cause for concern.

“The burden imposed on the students in terms of time, payment of examination fees and the stress caused...is tremendous,” Sibal said. Under the proposed system, students can’t disregard the class XII school boards any more. “The coaching factories will now feel the impact.”

Bhagwan Dash, a parent in Bhubaneswar, said that the move seems positive, but it was crucial that state governments accept it.

“One may argue about meritorious students going to national-level engineering and technology schools, but it may not be true always,” he said. “Other reasons, including financial constraints at times, force families to send their kids to quality state-level institutes. One test for all engineering exams will be better.”

150 - Scientific approach needed to include board marks in Indian Science Engineering Eligibility Test, says govt committee - TOI

Scientific approach needed to include board marks in Indian Science Engineering Eligibility Test, says govt committee

Abhishek Choudhari, TNN | May 27, 2012, 01.06AM IST

NAGPUR: The two government-appointed committees set up to look into a common engineering exam have strongly suggested a 'rigorous and scientific approach' for including Std XII board marks in the admission process.

Both the Acharya and Ramasami committees have made their stand clear on an issue which now pretty much threatens the union HRD ministry's plan to give India its first common entrance test.

TOI has accessed both the committee reports and it gives an insight to the road map for the proposed Indian Science Engineering Eligibility Test (ISEET).

The HRD ministry first constituted a committee in March 2010 under the chairmanship of D Acharya, director of IIT Kharagpur, and tasked it with finding an alternative to the present examination system into engineering colleges, including the prestigious IITs.

Later in May 2011, another committee was formed under the chairmanship of T Ramasami, secretary in the department of Science and Technology. The second committee's task (which included former chairman Acharya) was to work out a realistic method of holding the ISEET in a country where there are multiple boards and similar methods of evaluation.

While setting up the committees, the government had made it clear that the board exam marks should be 'given due weightage' thus leaving aptitude to be the main focus area for the ISEET. An HRD ministry letter dated March 8, 2010 which announced the formation of the Acharya committee emphasized that the new CET should 'constitute of an aptitude test which gauges the raw intelligence of students and lays less emphasis on physics, chemistry and mathematics as these are already tested at the board level'.

The Acharya committee recommended that before the inclusion of board marks there should be a common syllabus across the country. In its interim report, the Acharya committee says 'the board examination results could be brought to a meaningful common base if all boards use the same question paper for examination and common model answer for evaluation'. In their consultations with the Council of Boards of School Education (COBSE) the committee was informed that 'most of the boards will implement the common curriculum and syllabus in physics, chemistry, mathematics and bioscience by 2012'.

It further added that board results across the country should be released by May 1 to facilitate a smooth coordination for the ISEET, along with every student using the Unique Identification Scheme.

Later, when the Ramasami committee submitted its report to the government in September 2011, the ISEET had taken a more definitive shape. The committee said that a rigorous and scientific approach has to be taken if board marks are to be included.

This 'scientific approach' job was then given to the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) which studied results of ICSE, CBSE, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu boards. 

The ISI worked out a mathematical formula which is aimed at 'normalization' of board marks before its inclusion in the admission process.

It is this formula which is not finding favour with the IITs. A source in one of the older IITs said, "It is impossible to equate scores of CBSE to that of Bihar board. 

It is just not the curriculum but also the evaluation methods that are being used at these places." The HRD ministry officials however are convinced that the IITs are not favouring the idea of inclusion of board marks itself.

Many meetings have been held between all stakeholders but no common ground has been reached. Now everyone, including HRD minister Kapil Sibal, will assemble for a major meeting in the capital on Monday where a final decision on the ISEET is to be taken.

142 - ISEET fails to meet the test - DNA

ISEET fails to meet the test Published: Monday, May 14, 2012, 9:00 IST  By Pallavi Smart | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA If things go as planned by the ministry of human resource development (MHRD), around this time next year, all engineering college aspirants in the country will be at daggers drawn over who really make the cut. The ministry is planning to replace all examinations for admission to engineering and technical colleges in the country, including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the National Institutes of Technology (NITs), with a single examination — the Indian science engineering eligibility test (ISEET). The MHRD, which has been working on the common entrance test’s format for over a year now, has acted with the best of motives in mind: to cut down the stress that students right out of Class XII find themselves in while taking multiple tests, to reduce the dependency on coaching institutes which promote learning by rote and to reinforce the importance of a school education. So far, so good. Picking holes The move, though, hasn’t cut much ice with most students and faculty from the IITs. Not only do they resent the scrapping of their exclusive examination for admission — the joint entrance examination (JEE) — but also the 40% weightage given to board examinations in the proposed ISEET rankings. They have even questioned how a single-door entry will help reduce stress among students, given that the ISEET will be a hit-or-miss option for most of them in the absence of the IIT-JEE, the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) and various state common entrance tests (CETs). “What if something goes wrong on that one day?” asks Manav Avlani, a Class XII student who sat the JEE, the AIEEE and the Maharashtra CET this year. An IIT-Bombay (IIT-B) professor agrees. “As of now, students have options. If they do not perform well in one examination, they can get admission through another.” A senate member from the institute says more than 10 lakh candidates sit the AIEEE as compared to the 5-6 lakh who turn up for the JEE. “This shows that there are many students who are keen on doing an engineering course, but are not necessarily interested in joining the IITs.” Stepping on toes Another concern being bandied about is whether the move will dilute the academic standards of internationally acclaimed institutes such as the IITs and the NITs. The IIT faculty from different campuses has shot down at several council and senate meetings the criterion of giving 40% weightage to board examination marks for ISEET rankings. An IIT-B senate member explains why these institutes have been fighting the MHRD’s proposal tooth and nail. “Given the ambiguous and vague patterns of different boards, as well as continuous malpractices, the 40% weightage is too high. Till now, board examination marks have been used only as an eligibility criterion to sit the JEE. This cut-off can be increased, but using this score to rank candidates after the test is unfair.” Another member points at the mismatch between the patterns of board examinations and competitive tests. “Different boards have their own examination and evaluation patterns. Also, since board examinations are mostly theory-based, rote learning is encouraged. This doesn’t work with competitive tests, which are application-based.” Will real toppers please stand up? IIT students worry that the 40% weightage in ranking will blur the line between top and mediocre performers of the ISEET. Ketav Mehta, an IIT-B student, says, “Even if we forget the normalisation process for board examination marks for a while, the academic standards will definitely be diluted.” Another student from the institute, Niwedan S, argues that normalisation of board examination marks will be an “impossible task” and that it will add to the confusion. A survey conducted by the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, reportedly confirms this. Shoddy homework Avlani claims that the government, in an attempt to raise the bar of the admission process, has missed the woods for the trees. “It says it is putting the entrance examinations on a par with international ones by ushering in reforms based on the SAT — a standardised test for college admissions in the US. But, a SAT score helps in the first filtering process. Later, individual institutes are allowed separate criteria for admissions. The government has missed this fine print of the SAT.” Coaching centres to get a leg-up Several students and coaching centres argue that the government’s claim of giving the boot to coaching centres falls flat since the 60% weightage to the aptitude test will force aspirants who are used to the school curriculum to line up for special training. “The test will be based on a completely different curriculum. Students will need specialised coaching for it. This means that coaching centres will continue to flourish,” explains Niwedan. A furious Praveen Tyagi, the director of the IIT’s JEE coaching classes — the IIT-ian’s PACE, asks why the government has been shying away from privatisation of the education system when it has allowed the same in the health and food industry to raise quality. “If a qualified person is willing to teach students, who are willing to pay for the training, why is it considered a crime?” Lokesh Khandelwal, director of Resonance, another coaching class for the IIT-JEE, is cautious in judging the MHRD’s initiative. “A single test might be a good move. But, its aim should not be reducing the importance of coaching classes. Such centres provide quality education and training. At the same time, a candidate aspiring to break into the IITs or the NITs should not be judged on the board examination marks.” What’s with the hurry? Several stakeholders question the rush in putting in place a single entrance test, which was proposed only last year. An IIT-B professor says, “Whatever be the decision, what is the need to hurry the (ISEET’s) implementation? Students should get some time to understand the pattern and prepare accordingly.” The PanIIT Alumni Group, in its letter to the MHRD, had suggested that a notice of two years be given before the ISEET is implemented. “This will only be fair to those aspirants who have already begun their preparations on the basis of the existing criteria.” Hari Padmanabhan, chairman of the PanIIT Alumni Group who is a 1975 IIT-Kanpur passout, suggests a two-staged test as a solution. “At the first level, all candidates will be assessed together by a common entrance test. But the admission to an IIT should be given only through IIT-JEE, which IITs should be allowed to conduct in an autonomous manner."

123 - HRD Ministry tries hard to pacify IITs on ISEET 2013 -

HRD Ministry tries hard to pacify IITs on ISEET 2013

Published On: 10 Apr 2012 

HRD Ministry is putting in all efforts to convince IITs, which are currently objecting the proposed single entrance test for admission to undergraduate engineering courses before the CABE (Central Advisory Board of Education) meeting on April 23, 2012.

CABE is the supreme decision maker on education in India and is expected to take a rational stand on the common entrance exam proposed by MHRD to be introduced in 2013.

An IIT panel has met IIT- Kanpur and IIT-Bombay since they have opposed vehemently to the proposed pattern where merit list will be based on 2 part objective type exam and weightage will be assigned to class XII scores.

The NIT council and Joint IIT Council are also scheduled to meet on April 14, 2012 over the issue as a faculty from IIT-B has expressed that the proposed changes will not help IITs to get right students which the institutes aim at. The council’s meeting will be followed after the meeting of Union minister, Kapil Sibal with IIT heads and faculty federations.

Many IIT students are also protesting against the common entrance test proposed by the government.

HRD Ministry is planning to hold the new common entrance test as per new format on April 7, 2013 to be conducted by CBSE. IIT-NIT Council will constitute a joint admission board which will be responsible for formulating the policies and constitutional responsibilities for holding the 2013 exam and declaration of Results.

The test is proposed to replace the present AIEEE and IIT JEE exams. The HRD ministry had earlier declared that the scores of the new common entrance exam will be used for admission to central technical institutes such as NITs and IITs and to the states that are ready to accept the new format. Sources from Ministry revealed that some states including Gujarat have given their consent over the new format.

As per the new format, merit list will be based on Class XII marks with 40% weightage to be assigned to the same after normalization of marks, 30% to the main test and 30% to the advanced test.

IIT faculties expressed that the weightage system will prevent IITs from getting talented minds as same scale cannot be used to exhibit the knowledge of the students and such weightage can not be called a true evaluation.

Source: Economic Times

115 - 'ISEET won't eliminate coaching institutions' - Hindustan Times

'ISEET won't eliminate coaching institutions'

Kiran Wadhwa, Hindustan Times
Mumbai, March 22, 2012

Prof Indiresan taught for 40 years in the IITs and was the director of IIT Madras. He is a past president of the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers and of the Indian National Academy of Engineering. He is a recipient of the Padma Bhushan, and has been conferred honorary membership of the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers, US, and an honorary doctorate from the Karnataka Technical University.

Do you think the ISEET will eliminate the coaching class culture?No! ISEET will not eliminate coaching institutions but will make them change their programmes to help students do well in the exam.

Reports state that the ISEET will have an SAT-type component which will also test comprehension and language skills. Would this be fair on students from smaller towns from regional language mediums?If ISEET is fashioned like SAT with a requirement to know English well, that is good. If India is to become a global power, its experts should be proficient in a global language—which, at present is English. If the Chinese are learning English assiduously, I see no reason how Indians can escape that.

What, in your opinion, are the benefits and shortcomings of aptitude-based common national entrance tests for professional courses such as medicine and engineering in India?
Benefit:  It is likely to promote better qualified students. Shortcoming: It will not ideally identify innovative minds. For that, we will have to adopt the American system of Harvard, MIT and Stanford—use the ISEET score for shortlisting only, and make the selection from referee reports from school teachers who have known the student well. An interview would be even better. That means coaching institutions have only a marginal value—which is all they deserve.

What would you advise students and parents who are now in a state of confusion because of uncertainity in government policy on these tests?Students should study well, and well enough to understand what they are studying. As for government policy, I can only wish the students and parents the best of luck because the policy changes every day and even within a day.

75 - IIT-JEE: IITs unhappy with changes - INDIAN EXPRESS

IIT-JEE: IITs unhappy with changes

Editorial Team, 31, March

The replacement of Indian Institute of Technology’s Joint Entrance Exam (IIT-JEE) with Indian Science Engineering Eligibility Test (ISEET) is raising questions among IITs.

IIT Delhi and IIT Kanpur senates recently wrote to HRD ministry asking to consider their suggestions regarding the replacement of the entrance test. IIT Madras Faculty Association has conveyed similar views to other IITs. Not only have the IITs doubted the early and hurried decision of replacement of IIT-JEE but also the format of the new exam ISEET.

The IITs welcome the decision of bringing reforms in the current entrance exam but they want a say in the process of implementation of ISEET.

The government has proposed to change the IIT-JEE format by introducing two-part objective-type tests and giving weightage to Class XII marks.

The Ministry plans to hold ISEET from 2013 which will replace the existing IIT-JEE and the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE). This would serve as a single national entrance exam for admission to engineering and science courses in institutes such as the 15 IITs, 30 NITs and other prestigious technical institutes.


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