JEE controversy continues, IITs strike back
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Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) continue to remain in news - directly or indirectly. The reasons range from the institute's own issues, ambitions and endeavours to its stern reaction to the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry's decision on the JEE.
The ministry's decision to introduce a single common entrance test for engineering aspirants in the country the National Institutes of Technology (NIT) and Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) from 2013 has not ended the controversy around the issue, especially on the IIT front.
IIT faculty unhappy with JEE 2013
IIT faculty is not happy with the ‘go-ahead' of JEE 2013 as they feel that IIT senates have been bypassed in the process. Though, it's not a decision out of the blue, as the IITs and HRD Ministry remained stuck over the idea to have a single national-level engineering entrance exam in India for over two years now.
The new exam will replace IIT JEE, AIEEE, and perhaps state-level engineering entrance exams too. But whether the new system will also be adopted by the states will be known after a high-level meeting scheduled on June 5-6. According to the present conjectures, Gujarat, Haryana and Maharashtra are ready to accept Combined JEE 2013 in its present format. See details of JEE 2013 exam format
The HRD ministry says that it is looking to ease the financial and mental pressure on engineering aspirants in the country who have to appear for multiple entrance exams in the hope to secure a seat. HRD believes that giving weightage to class XII board exam scores in the final selection process will help to curb the rampant coaching culture in the country. As otherwise, students tend to neglect their school studies and rely on private coaching to crack exams like IIT-JEE through tips and tricks and rote learning methods.
Even though, HRD has won over IIT Council and NIT Council to implement its decision from 2013, there are academics, counselors, and IIT faculty members who do not agree with the HRD Minister Kapil Sibal. According to them, the new JEE will not help government in addressing any of the said issues. Read the arguments for and against the new JEE
With support from the IIT alumni and students, IIT Faculty Federation has criticized the move in a letter to the Prime Minister. Going a step ahead to oppose the new test format, IIT Delhi alumni president Somnath Bharti is also talking of considering legal recourse, as per news reports.
It's argued that students already in their class XII will find it difficult to switch their preparation strategy for the new JEE, which necessitates scoring equally well in the XII board exams as opposed to the earlier system where IIT-JEE or the AIEEE entrance test scores were focused upon for final selection. But on the other hand, it's also argued that giving importance to school performance makes for a sound academic foundation of a student bringing out the "raw intelligence" searched for by the likes of IITs.
IIT-Hyderabad supports new JEE
IIT-Hyderabad director Dr UB Desai, disagrees with such apprehensions and feels that there's no question of dilution of admission standards as the new format allows IITs to screen students by way of equal weightage given to XII board exam scores and the main exam before evaluating a student's candidature based on the advanced exam result for admission to IITs. The Joint Admissions Board (JAB) of the IITs will decide on the cut-off for main paper. Besides, with new IITs launched around the country, more seats are available to deserving students. IIT-Hyderabad, has welcomed the common entrance test.
The said pattern will change by 2015 following which the entrance to IITs is also expected to take into consideration the XII board and mains performance along with the advanced exam scores for the final selection. Clear guidelines on the exam pattern are expected by July-August.
Adding leadership to technical excellence
Amid all the tension around JEE, IIT-Delhi has maintained the forward focus about maintaining quality of education as it recently signed a memorandum of understanding with American Society for Quality India (ASQ India) towards making its students industry-ready by equipping them with practical management concepts and leadership orientation. To have an edge in today's work environment, students need more than a sound technical base.
The concepts will be incorporated as modules within the IIT curriculum and taught by IIT faculty, while ASQ India will help train four to five teachers in each department.
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