Many eyebrows were raised when Union Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal announced on October 19 that the eligibility criteria of 60% marks in Class XII for taking Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE) would be raised to 80% with a view to giving higher weightage to Intermediate Board Examinations.

The qualifying marks to appear for IIT-JEE, however, would have to be fixed by a special committee under the HRD Ministry comprising three members –Science and Technology Secretary T Ramaswamy, Department of Bio-technology Secretary M K Bhan and Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Director General Sameer Brahmachari.

According to the guidelines set by the HRD Ministry, the Committee would decide the examination pattern, the curriculum and changes needed in the IITs so that they may be able to compete with global universities of repute. The panel, which is expected to submit its report within three months, would formulate another committee to be headed by Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar to suggest ways to increase the role of IITs in the development of national projects. A vision document for the IITs is likely to be drafted by this Committee.

The intention of the HRD Ministry is to get some of the best young brains in the country through the IIT - JEE by raising the qualifying marks or grades at the secondary school examination. A prospective IIT student should not only be a genius but also good in studies – and not score just a bare first class which is commonplace in any board or senior secondary school examination.

The suggestion from the horse’s mouth, the HRD Minister, indicates that there are changes taking place in the JEE-IIT syllabus and style of the examination pattern and also reforms are likely in the eligibility benchmarks. This was meant to emphasise the classroom studies two years prior to a student’s entry in to the IITs.

Many Intermediate students who clear IIT-JEE are normally trained at various coaching institutes which resort to traditional methods of cramming and intensive practice of problems set in the previous years of IIT-JEE. However, it is a well-known fact that questions in IIT-JEE examinations are set by an international panel of renowned professors who ensure that the questions are not drawn from question papers of previous examination and that the problems are not extracts of any prescribed textbooks.

They make effort to test the ingenuity, originality and problem solving skills of the candidates so that the prospective scholars from IITs are actively engaged in frontier research.  On an average 3 lakh Intermediate students across the country appear for IIT-JEE every year. About 55,000 candidates from among the 3.85 lakh who took the IIT-JEE in 2009 are from Andhra Pradesh. As many as 2,500 students from the State have qualified in the entrance test conducted for 8295 seats in 15 IITs across the country.

According to T Satyaprakash, director of Kasturba PG College for Women, Secunderabad, the move to raise the eligibility criteria for IIT admissions would create controversies in the society and the Government has no business to deprive many intelligent students who are worthy of studying in IITs.

“The syllabi in State intermediate boards and those of CBSE and ICSE are not uniform and hence the Intermediate standards on a national level are not even. The IIT-JEE is only a means to rationalise the varying syllabi and standards of the students. Many colleges, let alone the government institutions do not have the required infrastructure, labs, libraries etc. Poor but diligent students from rural colleges may not be in a position to compete with their urban counterparts and not score as high as 80-85%. You cannot deny them the opportunity to take JEE,” adds Satyaprakash.

Poor students go to schools where academic facilities are insufficient and teachers generally do not show up regularly. High percentage or grades in the school and board examinations need not be taken as yardsticks for the students’ creativity or ingenuity, which is sought to be tested in IIT-JEE.

Otherwise, why should the IIT-JEE or EAMCET convenors take so much pain and hold the entrance tests with elaborate precaution, care and effort? A meticulously held entrance test is obviously a denouncement of the standards of Inter exams conducted by the higher secondary boards.

However, 40% of the 2,500 candidates from Andhra Pradesh who qualified at the IIT-JEE scored less than 80% marks in their Intermediate examination. Once the HRD Ministry move to fix the 80% cut-off marks at the qualifying examination becomes a reality, it would drastically cut down the number of IIT aspirants from the State.

The IIT applicants from Andhra Pradesh would come down to less than 20,000 once the minimum qualifying marks at the Class XII is raised to 80%, says senior IIT-JEE trainer B Suryanarayana Raju. The government does better to set at rest the concerns of many who are opposed to the proposed changes in IIT-JEE. It should be the endeavour of the Government to synergise the high-level teaching and research institutions like the IITs and also ensure the strong foundation of a school system in all states uniformly.

Raising IIT cut off not proper, Says Ramaiah

Chukka Ramaiah is among veteran IIT trainers of national repute, who would not admit his excellence and credibility in preparing thousands of IITians of fame quite successfully. Thanks to his simple ways and modesty, Ramaiah who retired as principal of AP Government Residential Degree College in Nagarjunasagar way back in 1983, is still active in social and political life. Presently, a member of the State Legislative Council, Ramaiah shares public platforms with academicians, scholars and politicians alike. His latest book Prapanchikarana Vidhya unfolds his experience and reflections on the economic reforms he saw in the Republic of China.

The Human Resource Development Ministry’s latest proposal to increase the cut-off marks at the Intermediate examinations — from 60% to 80% –to take IIT-JEE has serious repercussions, especially for students from Andhra Pradesh, feels Ramaiah. “No, it is not a right proposal,” he suggests.

The Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE) is a prestigious examination conducted for admission to IITs across the country.

  Students who get through the test have not only mastery over the subject they study at their intermediate classes, but also innovative skills. The IIT aspirants who qualify at the JEE are certainly above normal in intelligence. They know how to integrate different concepts, states Ramaiah responding to questions put to him at his Nalakunta residence in Hyderabad recently.

How is the IIT-JEE different from EAMCET?

In the general colleges, a concept is solved in a routine or traditional way as stipulated in the prescribed syllabus. But an IIT aspirant should have the caliber to solve a concept in more than one way with innovation. The student also knows how to answer a single problem in various ways. IIT-JEE tests the creativity of the student while the EAMCET traditional knowledge.

What kinds of questions confront an IIT aspirant?

You cannot find the IIT-JEE problems solved in any prescribed textbooks. The questions are also not drawn from the previous IIT-JEE. They try to test the originality of a candidate. Mere knowledge of the subject is not adequate. As far as I know, the questions are a challenge even for the teachers who prepare the IIT aspirants.

How do the Intermediate marks help the IIT aspirant?

I have seen students who scored more than 90% marks in the Intermediate examination have failed to make it to IIT. There are candidates with average Inter percentage of 60 to 70 having made it. So, the cut-off eligibility criteria fixed for IIT entrance is irrelevant and superficial. What is required of the candidate is a through and in depth knowledge of the subject.

 A candidate with an average intelligence can also score high marks by rote. But the IITians should have a basic understanding and an innovative mind to solve the problems through multi-pronged methods.

What does an examiner look for in IIT-JEE?

The examiner evaluates an IIT paper on the basis of methods chosen by the candidate. He does not see the answer to the problem but the method. Some adopt three or more steps to arrive at a conclusion while others take just one step. The test examines the student’s power of analysis, a capacity to reason out and the methods adopted while answering.

How tough are the IIT questions?

They are simple. All students who take the IIT-JEE invariably come out of the examination hall satisfied. Because the problems are set within the framework of the syllabus but they are meant to test the candidate’s understanding and skills. The questions are appreciated the world over for they are drafted by renowned scholars, Nobel laureates and professors of eminence.

The answers to the questions are also prepared by a team of professors at the IIT convening the examination. IITs in the country convene JEE on a turnkey basis every year.

Has the IIT standards degenerated for which the HRD Ministry proposes reforms in curriculum?

Originally the IIT-JEE was subjective in approach. In the 1990s, the objective element was introduced solely for the convenience of the evaluators. The objective test method certainly deteriorated the standards of IITs. The candidates resort to guessing. Next, parrot cramming resorted to by some coaching institutes have also helped aspirants get through the exams. Hence, talented students with discretion, analysis and reason fail to enter the portals of IITs. That’s the plight today!