Shiksha Opinion: Shouldn’t all JEE Main aspirants get a chance to appear for the exam?

JEE Main 2015 offline exam was conducted on April 4, 2015 and the online test for JEE main is being held on two days, that is, April 10 and April 11, 2015. View JEE Main 2015 important dates.

Shiksha.com reported live from one of the JEE Main offline exam centres as well as a JEE computer based exam centre. View live updates for JEE Main 2015 online exam. While Shiksha.com reporters were on field for the computer based test (CBT) for JEE Main 2015, we came across 15-20 students who were not allowed to enter the examination centre because they were late by a few minutes.

One aspirant pleaded that he was late by three-four minutes. However, authorities at the exam centre made him run from one gate of the centre to the other which led him to lose another 10 minutes. After this, he was not allowed to enter with the reasoning that the computers get locked as soon as the exam commences. However, the student does not believe this to be true.

We tried to get in touch with CBSE officials to find out if this is the case or not. But, after repeated attempts, we did not receive any response from the Chairperson of CBSE, Dr Satbir Bedi.

Further, we tried to get in touch with coaching centres to get a better understanding of this issue. However, even they were not able to give us a definite answer as to whether systems get locked right at the beginning of JEE Main online exam or not.

As per the information brochure for JEE Main 2015: “No candidate, under any circumstances, will be allowed to enter the Examination Center after the commencement of the examination”.  While we agree that it is good to set a definite entry and exit time for commencement of an exam, what we do not agree with is that students are not provided with any grace time to enter the examination centre which is often the case for other exams.

So, is this just ignorance or does all such important information not reach JEE candidates?

Another fact that is quite evident is that students in India prefer pen and paper exams as opposed to computer based exams. Is such lack of information the reason why students get dissuaded from taking online exams?

Why less students opt for JEE Main online exam

Conducting exams online is a fairly new phenomenon in India and students are still not very comfortable with opting for this mode of JEE examination. In fact each year, around 70% candidates opt to take the JEE Main offline exam and only about 30% opt for the online exam.

I believe this is so because students do not have a fair enough idea of how the exam is conducted. Like in the case of this student who was not allowed to enter the test centre, no one had any idea about the entry slot for exams being closed at 9:30am sharp. So, we request CBSE to please educate students and their parents on the same.

View JEE Main 2015: Parents' reaction.

JEE Main 2015: Why so much chaos

This year, we came across many instances of major errors in the conduct of the exam. If you go by reports in the media, this year many students got late in reaching the JEE Main exam centre because the address mentioned on their admit cards by CBSE was wrong. Now in such a situation who is to blame?

Also, many students could not take the JEE Main 2015 exam in Jammu and Kashmir because of the flood situation there. Are students to blame for this? What is the Board doing to protect such students? Is a separate exam date a possibility for them?

Steps CBSE should take

We know that CBSE has a tough task at hand because the number of students taking JEE Main each year is very high. But as they say: With great power and authority comes great responsibility and so CBSE should definitely pay heed to the below mentioned issues.

• Print the correct information on Admit Cards

CBSE officials need to ensure that they very carefully enter details about the examination centres in the admit cards. I feel that all the addresses of exam centres should be doubly checked before admit cards are issued to aspirants. Last minute changes create a lot of unnecessary confusion and inconvenience.

• More information about test centres

I feel that there should be much more information about JEE exam centres when students register for the exam itself. We came across many students facing exam centre related problems at both the offline as well as online exam for JEE.

At the offline exam, we met two students who reached the exam centre to give JEE Main 2015 Paper-2 which is conducted for BArch admissions. However, that exam centre was not conducting the BArch entrance test. These students received a generic message from CBSE that they had successfully registered for JEE and paper-1 would be held from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm and paper-2 would commence from 2 pm to 5 pm. It wasn’t mentioned anywhere that which exam had they registered for.

Also, the JEE Main online exam centre we went to was in Greater Noida and was hard to locate even for us. However, when we reached the centre through GPS navigation we arrived at another college. Further, we tried to locate people to guide us with the route to the college and after much difficulty located the college which was in the interiors of Greater Noida. I agree that all examination centres cannot be at prime locations but I request the authorities to ensure that there are adequate signages along the way leading students to JEE exam centres.

Finally, when we reached the exam centre there was no banner or board highlighting the fact that JEE Main 2015 online exam was being conducted there. The exam centre had two entry gates: Gate-1 and Gate-2.

The only way we were able to locate that this was indeed the JEE test centre and the entry for the exam was from Gate-2 was because we saw around 20-25 students standing in a group near a board which later turned out to be the notice board where roll numbers of students were displayed. However, from 8:30am onwards even this difference disappeared because regular students of the college started flocking Gate-1 to attend their classes for the day.

So, my request to CBSE is that when you allot test centres to students, either provide them with a rough map of the centre or at least provide students with the nearest landmark to easily spot their test centres. Also, while deciding examination centres for JEE Main which is taken by around 13 lakh students each year, the authorities should make a conscious effort to select test centres which are at prominent locations and not in interiors which are difficult to reach.

• Give grace time to students

Most aspirants start preparing for JEE Main exam right after their Class VIII. The future of these engineering aspirants depends on this exam. The least we can do is provide students with a 15 minute grace time wherein they will be allowed to appear for the exam. Not doing this tends to ruin an entire year of students concerned and here we should also take into account students who are from lower economic backgrounds. It will not be easy for most families to allow their children to take a drop year or another year of coaching for JEE exam.

• Allow students to give exam with a fine

Students who are not able to give the JEE exam for any reason lose out on an entire year. CBSE can help such students. For instance, late comers could be charged a fine and but allowed to take the exam on the same day or another day of the JEE online or offline exam.

The future of our country’s youth is at stake and I feel that CBSE should take all these points into consideration and formulate necessary preventive steps so that no such glitches happen in the conduct of JEE Main exams.