Only Eight Point Someone for the IITs?
By: Subhadeep Bhattacharjee
That might become a reality if Union Human Resource Development minister Kapil Sibbal has his way. Mr. Sibbal suggested that 80 percent cut-off will be done to ensure that students took their Class XII exams seriously. This rule will be applicable from the 2011 sessions in all t
he 16 premier technology institutes of the country. The bar to appear for the entrance which once stood at 50% had been raised to a minimum of 60% three years ago.
The decision has had mixed reactions in the among the teachers and the students. Whereas students are against this citing the reason that only a few will be eligible to appear for entrance exam their teachers are happy that Class XII exam will be taken more seriously by the students. One of the major factors which led to this decision was to check the growth of coaching centres, which were thriving on imparting coaching to IIT aspirants which mainly is accessible only to the elites.
The decision has both pros and cons. For one it will surely hit the lucrative coaching business in places like Kota which churn IIT cracking students like a factory. The short cut methods that these institutes use gives their candidates a high chance of cracking the exam considered one of the toughest in the world. The negative side of this is that very few students without formal coaching crack the exam and this hurts the chances of students belonging to far flung regions and those with poor socio-economic background.
But this decision will have adverse effect too. It will mean an end to the IIT dream for many students who do not secure 80% in their Class XII examination. What will be Mr. Kapil Sibbal's answer to a candidate who might have secured 78 or 79% marks in Class XII? That he is not fit for the IIT? There will be no second chance for people who might have for some reason not fared well in their school and junior college leaving examination.
With bulk of the students in India studying under State Boards which have divergence in their marking patterns how will Mr. Sibbal guarantee that only the deserving candidates make it to the IIT? What is the guarantee that different State Boards will not temper with their marking patterns to make sure more and more students make it to the IIT entrance examination? What if there is scenario where the students with 80% plus marks fail to pass the preliminary and the mains and thus fail to fill up the seats? Can percentage alone reflect the IQ of a student capable of cracking the IIT?
Mr. Sibbal and his team might have tried to cut down the ill sides of the IIT Entrance examination but this step will have more cons than pros. It will badly hit the backward regions of the country where scoring a 80% is still not common and benefit the metros where horde of students cross this mark. It will be interesting to see what impact this new rule creates, as for now it seems more bad than good to the naked eye.
That might become a reality if Union Human Resource Development minister Kapil Sibbal has his way. Mr. Sibbal suggested that 80 percent cut-off will be done to ensure that students took their Class XII exams seriously. This rule will be applicable from the 2011 sessions in all t
he 16 premier technology institutes of the country. The bar to appear for the entrance which once stood at 50% had been raised to a minimum of 60% three years ago.The decision has had mixed reactions in the among the teachers and the students. Whereas students are against this citing the reason that only a few will be eligible to appear for entrance exam their teachers are happy that Class XII exam will be taken more seriously by the students. One of the major factors which led to this decision was to check the growth of coaching centres, which were thriving on imparting coaching to IIT aspirants which mainly is accessible only to the elites.
The decision has both pros and cons. For one it will surely hit the lucrative coaching business in places like Kota which churn IIT cracking students like a factory. The short cut methods that these institutes use gives their candidates a high chance of cracking the exam considered one of the toughest in the world. The negative side of this is that very few students without formal coaching crack the exam and this hurts the chances of students belonging to far flung regions and those with poor socio-economic background.
But this decision will have adverse effect too. It will mean an end to the IIT dream for many students who do not secure 80% in their Class XII examination. What will be Mr. Kapil Sibbal's answer to a candidate who might have secured 78 or 79% marks in Class XII? That he is not fit for the IIT? There will be no second chance for people who might have for some reason not fared well in their school and junior college leaving examination.
With bulk of the students in India studying under State Boards which have divergence in their marking patterns how will Mr. Sibbal guarantee that only the deserving candidates make it to the IIT? What is the guarantee that different State Boards will not temper with their marking patterns to make sure more and more students make it to the IIT entrance examination? What if there is scenario where the students with 80% plus marks fail to pass the preliminary and the mains and thus fail to fill up the seats? Can percentage alone reflect the IQ of a student capable of cracking the IIT?
Mr. Sibbal and his team might have tried to cut down the ill sides of the IIT Entrance examination but this step will have more cons than pros. It will badly hit the backward regions of the country where scoring a 80% is still not common and benefit the metros where horde of students cross this mark. It will be interesting to see what impact this new rule creates, as for now it seems more bad than good to the naked eye.
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