New Delhi: A single entrance examination for both Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs), no weightage to school board marks and a centralized testing service are among a number of key measures that a government appointed committee has suggested to reform the admission process for the top engineering schools in India.

The summary of the report, which the human resource development (HRD) ministry made public for comments Saturday, two days after it was submitted, suggested that such changes may take place from 2017 onwards.

If the HRD ministry accepts the report then the two-tier joint entrance exam, JEE Main and JEE Advanced, will be merged. But the JEE brand name will remain and shall be administered by the IITs and no portion of it shall be conducted by the central board of secondary education (CBSE). CBSE currently conducts JEE-Main and IITs conduct JEE-Advanced.

A National Testing Service, to be set up by early 2016, will be mandated to test the scientific aptitude and innovative thinking ability (of students). The Aptitude test may be offered two or more times in a year and would be an online test, the report said. The report prepared by a group of experts led by academician Ashok Mishra said the “testing shall test the scientific thinking and cannot be gamed through coaching".

“Based on this performance, about 400,000 candidates shall be short-listed for taking the JEE. The JEE itself will be on the lines of the current JEE (Advanced) and designed to test the knowledge in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics; and will be conducted by the IITs. From this, ranks will be issued to 40,000+ students who can seek admission in IITs and NITs based on a common counseling," the committee report suggested.

It advised that the IITs be requested to set up a system for developing mock JEE examinations which will help students prepare for the JEE significantly and wean them away from the coaching industry.

“Till such time, that is for 2016 and 2017, the practice of two-tier JEE examination shall be continued…the top 200,000 students from JEE (Main) shall be allowed to appear in JEE (Advanced). More than 40,000 ranks will be issued in JEE (Advanced) for developing a better system for selection of candidates. Joint counselling for IITs and NITs shall be continued as was done last year (last session for 2015 admission," said the report.

The report said that the board marks shall not to be counted for giving rankings this year (2016) for NITs and other centrally funded technical institutions (CFTIs). Currently, 40% weight is given to Class 12 board marks for admission into NITs and CFTIs .

But a statement from the HRD ministry said that since this process would take some time, it was decided that the JEE 2016 shall be conducted in the same manner as 2015, “with an enhanced intake from 1.5 lakh to two lakh into the JEE (Advanced) stage. The weightage given to Board marks in JEE (Main) would continue for the year 2016".

It means the ministry may go for the reform in 2017 and not in 2018 as suggested in the report.

The government has decided to place the recommendations of the report in the public domain for widespread consultation with the stakeholders, the ministry statement said.

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

Share Via