There is much debate about the Joint Entrance Exam in India. Here's is a look into the debate for the Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examination.

1. Joint Entrance Exam- The
Confusion Prevails
- Shobhit Agarwal

2. IITs- The toughest
• The only component of the education system that had
managed to escape the clutches of the politicians for
decades has been the Joint Entrance Exam to the
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-JEE).
• For decades, the exam, regarded by many as the
toughest entrance exam in the country, has filtered a
few thousand students from lakhs of aspirants, and
deemed them qualified to study in the most reputed
and prestigious institute in the country – the IITs.
• But as fate would have it, the luck has finally run out on
IIT-JEE, and if the honourable HRD minister, Mr. Kapil
Sibal, has his way, it will be scrapped away altogether.

3. From Mr. Arjun to Mr. Kapil
• The reign of Mr. Arjun Singh as the education minister saw
the education system in the country sinking to new lows.
• From forwarding the 27% reservation quota in education
institutes to granting deemed university status, his
ministership was a perfect demonstration of disasters.
• When Kapil Sibal replaced him, he invoked a breath of new
life into the system, by making the tenth standard board
exams optional.
• This was one of his first moves, it is a move in the right
direction, helping to reduce stress and exam-phobia from the
lives of 15-16 year old students.

4. The new system!
1. Doing away with IIT-JEE and AIEEE. Rather, have a common
entrance test (to be called as JEE) for both, which will short-
list candidates to all the centrally funded engineering
colleges across the country like the IITs, NITs (National
Institute of Technology), IIITs (Indian Institute of Information
Technology).
2. The JEE is to give a substantial weightage to class 12 marks –
40% in case of NITs and IIITs and 50% in case of IITs
3. The exam will be held in two parts – main and advanced.
While the first part will be an aptitude-based test, the second
part will check a student’s knowledge of the subject in depth.

5. 4. For admission to the IITs, a composite score will be generated
on the basis of the class 12 board marks and the performance
in JEE mains. The top 50,000 will only be screened for the JEE
advance, based on their performance in which will they get
selected to the IITs
5. For admission to NITs and IIITs, the composite score will be
generated based on the class 12 board marks, and the marks
scored in both JEE mains and advance.

6. Reasons?
1. Students often tend to sideline the board exams in lieu of IIT-
JEE.
2. The growing reliance on the coaching classes will be reduced.
3. And most importantly, it will help reduce the burden on the
students, who are stressed by the high number of entrance
exams after the board exams.

7. The loopholes!
• Firstly, since in the present system, the focus is only on the
performance in the entrance exams, students can channelize
all their focus on them, without worrying about the board
exams, where they only need to score 60% marks.
• It is not a hidden fact from anyone that the difference in the
level of class 12 board exam papers and that of IIT-JEE is
ridiculously huge.
• And so, a student merely preparing for the board exams
doesn’t stand a chance of cracking the IIT-JEE.
• The new system will further pile on the pressure on the
students, and will now force them to perform well in the
board exams as well as the JEE.

8. Dropped out to clear JEE?
• And finally, the concept of a single exam will only see a rise in
the number of students dropping an academic year to
prepare for the JEE.
• In the present system, if a student doesn’t perform well in the
IIT-JEE, he still has AIEEE to look forward to.
• But in the proposed system, if a student fares badly in JEE, be
it mains or advanced, then his chances of making it to the
government-aided institutes reduce significantly.
• All that he will be left with is to drop an academic year, and
again prepare for the JEE, because not everyone can afford
the costly private education.

9. Students not spared!
• The proposed system has found a few takers, but it has found
a greater number of detractors.
• Moreover, they are of the opinion that the new system will
dilute the quality of the student intake, which will in turn
affect the IIT brand.
• With the combined forces of IIT-alumni and IIT senate on one
side and Mr. Sibal on the other, that there have been talks of
the case going to the Supreme Court.
• The people in power haven’t spared a thought for the
students who will be writing JEE in 2013 and how are they to
prepare for such an exam?

10. • Read the detailed repot on Joint Entrance Exam- The
Confusion Prevails on http://bit.ly/LNkQwt