This is the last year of the IIT joint entrance exam (IIT-JEE) and the all India engineering entrance exam (AIEEE). From 2013, a seat at the IITs and other central tech varsities will hinge on the applicant's scores in a common entrance test and in the senior secondary board exams — the weights assigned being 60 percent and 40 percent respectively.

The move could end the mad rush of the aspirants to coaching centres. The rote at these centres may increase the likelihood of cracking an entrance exam, but comes at the cost of the learning at school. The rise in the number of such factories has been a worrying trend. The new admission rules could put the focus back on learning and enabling education at schools.

On the other hand, a premium on class 12 scores runs the risk of becoming discriminatory. Problem-solving and aptitude (believed to be tested by the current format and by the proposed common entrance test) are very different from demonstration of understanding in a conventional board exam format. Besides, the difficulty of exams varies according to boards. Even within boards, a choice of subjects is known to greatly influence final scores. Thus, the format (with greater weightage on Class 12 results) may not be able to correctly adjudge an applicant's worthiness.

So, in the light of these and other considerations, should the IIT-JEE be scrapped in favour of the new format?