JEE Main & Advanced 2017 may introduce an essay-type written test

JEE Main & Advanced 2017

If reports are to be believed, from the year 2017, engineering aspirants will likely be required to appear for a third component i.e. a written section once they are done with JEE Main and JEE Advanced. 

According to latest information, the IIT Joint Admission Committee is contemplating to introduce a written section in JEE 2017. However, the point to note here is that candidates will be able to take this test once they have appeared for JEE Main and Advanced. Making the rat race tougher, this new step is likely to increase the level of complexity to an exam which is already considered the toughest in the country due to its multifaceted percentile system.

The idea behind proposing a feature of this kind is to curtail guess work by engineering aspirants and further, force them to exhibit their actual knowledge of a subject. Though this initiative will require a total repair of the evaluation system, it will only be introduced if it improves the quality of students.

A senior professor at one of the IITs was quoted as saying, " Candidates sometimes use the method of elimination to choose an answer. We want to minimize that. The best way to do this is to make candidates write the answer rather than tick a box. MCQs are a standard method to assess a candidate's comprehension, analysis or application skills, but an essay-type section will force them to show how much they truly understand a concept and how they arrange their thoughts to develop an argument".

With over 13 lakh students taking the exam, evaluation might pose a problem. However, if sources are to be believed, not all answer sheets will be evaluated. This means that while every aspirant will have to take the essay section, their answers will be evaluated only if they acquire a certain score in the JEE Advanced.

"We are trying to develop a machine-readable answer script. We need to make some changes in the computer programming so that it can read the near possible answers and accordingly evaluate the answer scripts," shared a source. For example, machines can read numbers or names of chemical compounds, such as hydrogen peroxide, but a separate programme is needed for giving credits to part answers and thus, this one will take some time, informed an official.

If all goes as planned, the written segment will be all set to be introduced in 2017.

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