Does the IIT entrance need a rejig?

GN Bureau | October 3, 2011



Infosys co-founder N R Narayanamurthy has claimed that nearly 80 percent of the students who crack the IIT entrances are of questionable calibre. He punched holes in the IITs' selection procedure saying that it took no more than coaching institutions getting students to mug a set of problems to crack the entrance exam.

The HRD ministry has proposed a sharing of weightage between a SAT-like test (doing away with the decades old IIT-JEE) and performance in Class 12 board exams. Though the proposal is hardly a holistic way of marking eligibles, the ministry is hedging its bets with it. However, groups of IITians (currently at college and alumni who have graduated) have opposed the move online saying that the JEE is "good enough and time-tested" and that the weightage for board performances will be unnecessarily complicated with students from many boards appearing the exam.

While Narayanmurthy may have indeed pointed at a systemic flaw in the selection procedure, he also undermined the stringency and the screening capabilities of the test. After all, it is this 'subpar' students who make the cut from a pool of a few lakhs. But at the same time, it can't be ignored that the tests are hardly holistic, thereby ignoring many attributes that are necessary to maintain quality of students at the apex institutes.

Thus, our poser is if the IIT entrance really needs a rejig or not.

Comments

 

Other News

When healthcare becomes luxury: Inside India’s growing medical inequality

India’s ambition to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030 is faltering under the weight of low public spending, rising privatisation, and deepening inequality in access to care. Leading doctors and public health experts warn that the current system, heavily dependent on out-of-pocket spendi

DAE hosts curtain-raiser for Emerging Sci-Tech & Innovation Conclave

The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) organized a curtain-raiser for the upcoming Emerging Science, Technology & Innovation Conclave (ESTIC-2025) at its headquarters in Mumbai on Thursday. As one of the key organisers of the national conclave, DAE will lead the thematic session on ‘Energy, Enviro

Class 3 kids will learn AI soon

The Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSE&L), Ministry of Education, has reaffirmed its commitment to advancing Artificial Intelligence and Computational Thinking (AI & CT) as essential components of future-ready education. The Department is supporting institutions such as CBSE, NCERT

NITI Aayog unveils manufacturing roadmap

NITI Aayog’s Frontier Tech Hub unveiled a roadmap “Reimagining Manufacturing: India’s Roadmap to Global Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing” in Pune on Wednesday . The roadmap was unveiled by Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister of Maharashtra; Ajit Pawar, deputy chief

Cabinet approves Terms of Reference of 8th Central Pay Commission

The Union Cabinet, chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved the Terms of Reference of 8th Central Pay Commission. The 8th Central Pay Commission will be a temporary body. It will comprise of one chairperson; one member (part time) and one member-secretary. It will make it

Waste to Wings: Unlocking the power of black soldier fly for a greener future

The global agri-food system faces critical sustainability challenges linked with land degradation, deforestation, water depletion, climate change, biodiversity loss, and food insecurity. Agriculture contributes to one-third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, largely driven by food waste, deforestati

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now





Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter