Stop Kota!

Very purpose of inclusion of +2 Class Board Exam Marks in engineering entrance is a flawed idea. If the idea is to make student go to schools and study, then that decision would not change, yet more coaching shall be there from before; one for board exam and another for engineering entrance. Which is the exact thing happening with these premier institutes’ admissions.

Recent decision of IIT Council and MHRD, Govt of India having accepted the recommendation of Prof Ramaswami Report on common entrance test for all engineering courses on undergraduate level, has surrounded in controversy on multiple issues like ignoring procedure, lack of research in proposing changes. IIT, India’s premier engineering institutes, community had slammed these proposed changes.

Single exam - better
Today, India has many entrance tests for engineering stream IIT JEE for all IITs and IISc and some equivalent central government funded institutes, AIEEE for all NITs and majority of private engineering institutes accept its score too and every central, state and Private and Deemed institutes take their separate tests some of these also accept AIEEE score along with their test score. Having a single exam helps in providing single window to all engineering institutes. Yet, autonomy of engineering institutes in selection should also be maintained to sustain quality of education in the institutes.

Mushrooming Coaching Industry
Issue lies in the mushrooming Coaching industry, charging fees in lakhs of rupees, placing students from modest backgrounds lagging behind in the race, forcing middle class family to manage - anyhow and fund their off-springs dream to join IIT JEE. Now cities like Kota have emerged as centres of this coaching industry with giants like Bansal Classes, Resonance and FIITJEE as new czars of the new regime.

Subjective Exam
The difference between students of Bharat and student of India is widening. Post 2005 when IIT administration had changed the pattern, abolishing mains, a six hour subjective exam, IIT alumni and Professors too claim that quality of student population has gone down. Rigorous mugging of short-cuts and question bank has led not so sharp student to also manage the cut at top IITs, which has raised questions to the IIT JEE, even then changes suggested in Prof Ramaswami committee doesn’t has fact, figures to support this claim, and suggested changes presents no idea of the objective, apart from having single entrance test, of the new test. What implication it shall have on the coaching industry is not stipulated.

Pre 2005 IIT JEE, where students appeared in preliminary, an objective multi choice, examination for screening level and mains, a comprehensive subjective, examination to judge best talents for IITs and premier engineering institutes. It will be wise to re-think and go back to the pattern which had yielded us for decades. This pattern shall be helpful in tackling ongoing debate of Common Engineering Test.

Autonomy of IITs
Overlooking statutory bodies like IIT Senates of each institute before declaring end to IIT JEE is a blatant move of undermining the autonomy of IIT like premier institutes, this move shall be opposed.

Parity of +2 Marks among different Boards?
Inclusion of +2 board examinations which as we understands, would involve complication of disparity among various board exam and normalization of marks between various boards, issues of copying, unfair means cases are still faced by many education boards, shall make it of no use to judge the best talents of this country. Diploma students, International Baccalaureates and other international exam students shall be placed outside this system and would be oversimplification of the rule if normalised.

Aptitude Test
It is not worth to have quantitative aptitude test for engineering students, who should be best judged on understanding of fundamentals, and it is to give undue advantage on English language proficiency, would set back students of rural backgrounds. When student study higher maths then it is not needed to have aptitude test asking student to judge among words, coding-decoding, reasoning etc, which is of little use for students who should be best judged on the level of competence on deciphering the fundamentals of science and mathematics the core of engineering.

Who shall conduct the exam?
Generally, organisation which is inducting applicants takes the exams, so unlike UPSE, State PSE, UGC NET, CAT, SAT, GMAT, this new exam pattern would be different as it shall be governed by CBSE not any University or autonomous organisation of institutes inducting students.

IIT Entrance - an outsider's perspective

If one can remember in October 2005, IIT system took decision of making admission to flagship undergraduate programme of Indian Institutes of Technology, only through two consecutive chances of JEE, it was argued by board of directors that it will eradicate the coaching institute hegemony in JEE and will make numbers of students competing for JEE steady.

"We (are) implementing this rule to control the large number of students appearing in JEE and to ruin the coaching industry completely," said one board member in 2005. But, five years of implementation of this plan, total number of student appearing for IIT-JEE has doubled from 2005, and coaching industry made double the turnover in this span.

Initially student opposed this rule, but had to accept it as ‘egoistic’ IIT board took this step, which was not unanimous decision as it had voting done for the said decision, as some administrations and intellectuals were against it.

It would be very important to visit back the time when IIT Board of Directors took a ‘weird’ decision of slashing number of chances once unlimited to only two after 10+2 exam. After implementing this rule, the first result of 2006 was very fascinating. The percentage of successful candidates was more who have taken more than two attempts. ie three or more; does IIT directors believe that those students are duffers?

After result print media reported it as "JEE Ke Rule Ulte Sabit Huye, Students Coaching Aur Exams Dono me Badhe "(Rules of JEE found reversed, students increases in both coaching and in exams).

IIT responded with bring out data on 2007 result as "Sarkari Ankado Ke Mutabik Is Bar First Attempters Ka Success Percentage Jyada Hai” (According to Government figures, success percentage of first attempt student is more). This is obvious though when 70% students are 12th appearing and having only two consecutive attempts available with them.

Question is raised on IIT JEE, is it an exam of talent basis or had it become a notorious chance game. All these matters didn’t satisfy the ego IIT hierarchy, they came up with a plan in Jan 2010-11 that student should have 80% in 12 standard to appear in IIT-JEE. Decisions are made in as if IITs were their personal property.

When seats in IITs didn’t fill, IIT administrators made new formula of ‘extended merit list’ and had claimed that they are using this for filling seats of IISc Bangalore.

One side they(IITs) claim that they made paper easy, but the 'level of difficulty' is same as before.

Once again IITs are preparing to give one more chance for 'poor' JEE preparing students, Is JEE a matter of chance?

This vicious trap of ‘chances’ making students and parents adapted for these unusual pressure, which is anti student. Besides these are so many questions arising and points are endless against this chance game. Now more number of students leave their 10+2 exam for getting better prospects in two consecutive JEE chance once they appear for board exams.

Stressed by this pressure students start preparation for IIT JEE from 9th standard and overload themselves and their parents with added pressure.

I want to know your response, had faxed these things to AAJ TAK, NEWS24 etc but they said that once we start any movement they’ll back us. This is the same mail which is sent to all coaching institutes’ students around the country and two media and student organisations, though response was exceptional from everybody. Everybody asking us of what they need to do in this movement.
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with discussions with Anupam Gupta, Kanpur | edited by this blogger