Jump to content

Joint Entrance Examination – Advanced

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Bmbarot1964 (talk | contribs) at 06:47, 16 July 2012 (→Seats and attendance). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Indian Institutes of Technology Joint Entrance Examination (abbreviated IIT-JEE or simply JEE) is an annual college entrance examination in India. It is used as the sole admission criterion by the sixteen Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). The examination is organised each year by one of the various IITs, using a round robin rotation pattern. It has a very low admission rate (about 1 in 50 in 2011).

History

The JEE was conducted for the first time in 1960,[1][2] when it had four subjects including an English language paper. The examination has since evolved considerably from its initial pattern. The JEE was initially called as the Common Entrance Exam (CEE). The CEE coincides with the IIT Act of 1961, to later named as JEE.[3]

In 1997, the JEE was conducted twice after the question paper was leaked in some centers.

Between 2000 and 2005, an additional screening test was used alongside the main examination, intended to reduce pressure on the main examination by allowing only about 20,000 top candidates to sit the paper, out of more than 450,000 applicants.

In September 2005, an analysis group of directors of all the IITs announced major reforms to the examination. These were implemented from 2006 onwards. The revised test now consists of a single objective test, replacing the earlier two-test system. In order to be eligible for the main examination, candidates in the general category must secure a minimum of 60% aggregated marks in the qualifying examination of the XIIth standard organized by various educational boards of India, while candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Physically Disabled (PD) categories must secure a minimum of 55%.

In 2008, the Director and the Dean of IIT Madras called for revisions to the examination, arguing that the coaching institutes were "enabling many among the less-than-best students to crack the test and keeping girls from qualifying". They expressed concern that the present system did not allow for applicants' 12 years of schooling to have a bearing on admissions into IITs.[4]

In 2008, the Indian Institutes of Technology, for the first time, went overseas with their entrance examination as they set up a centre for the competitive test in Dubai.[5] The number of candidates appearing in Dubai hovered around 200 to 220.[6]

Changes in JEE

In 2010 the Ministry of Human Resource Development announced plans to replace JEE by 2013 with a common engineering entrance examination.[7] While per the decision of the ministry on 20 May 2012, the exam is to be introduced starting in 2013,[8] discussions about the timing and format are still ongoing.[9]

Latest edition

In 2012, IIT JEE was conducted on 8 April, for which over 520,000 students had appeared for about 10,000 engineering seats across India.[10] Result of JEE 2012 with All India Ranks (AIRs) has been declared on 18 May 2012.[11]

Institutes admitting through JEE

A total of seventeen colleges use JEE as sole criterion for admission to their undergraduate programs, namely the sixteen Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian School of Mines.[12] Other institutes using JEE scores in their admission process include Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology,[13] Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research,[citation needed] Indian Maritime University, [citation needed] Indian Institute of Science and LNM Institute of Information Technology.[14]

Current examination format

The current pattern, which has been followed since 2006, consists of two objective-type papers each containing mathematics, physics and chemistry sections. The syllabus of the examination is predominantly based on topics covered by the CBSE Board Examination (AISSCE) and the ISC Board Examination. The pattern of questions in JEE is deliberately variable so as to minimize the chance of students getting selected by 'cramming' revision of probable questions. As the questions are objective, Optical mark recognition answer sheets have been used since 2006. The current pattern is intended to reduce stress on applicants; in previous years, there were separate maths, physics and chemistry papers, each of two hours' duration, that contained both subjective and objective questions.

Given the importance attached to the JEE by students all over India, the IITs follow a rigorous procedure when conducting it every year. The exam is set by the JEE Committee (consisting of a group of faculty members drawn from the admitting colleges) and kept confidential. Multiple sets of question papers are framed and the set that is to actually be used on the day of the exam is known to very few people.

The IIT JEE consists of 2 question papers each covering 3 subjects including Physics, Chemistry and Maths. While most questions are objective - there are different categories. A few questions have only one correct answer, whereas others may have one or more correct answers. There are also some match the following questions, and numerical response questions, whereby the candidates are required to calculate the answer (a numerical one) and enter the corresponding number by darkening the appropriate digits. In the past, the IITs have experimented with passage-based comprehension type questions, as opposed to a dry problem similar to that in other examinations. In these passages, the onus is on the elucidation of the underlying scientific principles behind a phenomenon or a theory, and it's application to other scenarios defined by the problems. While some of the concepts introduced may have already been studied by the students, this kind of question allows the IITs to introduce a higher, more complex topic which students would not have come across, thereby negating any advantage gained by rote learning.

The answer sheet is an ORS i.e. Optical Response Sheet in which the candidate is required to darken the bubble with a black pen against the right answer. The ORS is actually a duplex sheet, with an underlying copy that takes impressions of the candidate's responses. This can then be retained by the candidate to check his response against the correct answers.

The marking scheme for the answers discourages random guessing by allotting a negative mark for wrong answers. The value of this penalty is usually about one-third the value awarded for a correct answer. Unanswered questions have always been awarded zero marks. The negative marking usually does not apply to numerical responses (where numbers near the correct answer are also credited - due to inherent errors in approximation - given that JEE candidates are not allowed the use of calculators), and match-the-following type questions.

Seats and attendance

The number of students taking the examination has increased substantially each year with over 485,000 showing up for IIT-JEE 2011. This represented an increase of 30,000 students (6.5%) from 2010.[15]

The availability of seats in recent years is as shown below:

Institute Intake (2003) Intake (2007) Intake (2008) Intake (2009) Intake (2010) Intake (2011)[16] Intake (2012)[17]
IIT(BHU) 568 686 766 881 1057 1057 1057
IIT Bhubaneshwar 120 120 120 120
IIT Bombay 600 574 648 746 880 880 880
IIT Delhi 552 553 626 721 851 851 851
IIT Gandhinagar 120 120 120 120
IIT Guwahati 350 365 435 498 588 615 615
IIT Hyderabad 120 120 120 140 140
IIT Indore 120 120 120 120
IIT Kanpur 456 541 608 702 827 827 827
IIT Kharagpur 659 874 988 1138 1341 1341 1370
IIT Madras 554 540 612 713 838 838
IIT Mandi 120 120 120
IIT Patna 120 120 120 120 120
IIT Rajasthan 120 120 120 160 160
IIT Roorkee 546 746 884 1013 1155 1155
IIT Ropar 120 120 120 120 120
ISM Dhanbad 444 658 705 923 1012 1034 1034
Total 4583 5537 6992 8295 9509 9618 9647
Attendance 455,000 ~485,000[15] 512,000

From 2008, six new IITs have been opened with 120 seats each, increasing the total number of seats to almost 7000. For 2009, admissions have been made to two more IITs, namely IIT Indore and IIT Mandi (Himachal Pradesh) taking the seat count to almost 8300. As of 2011, with additional courses in several old and new IITs, the total seat count has crossed 9600.

Eligibility

The age limit for sitting the JEE is 25 years. For candidates belonging to SC, ST and PD categories, the relaxed age limit is 30 years.

Also, since 2007, candidates have been allowed to take the JEE a maximum of twice. This change was intended to reduce stress on applicants, and to discourage the concept of 'cram schools'. Also since 2007, students selected for admission to an IIT and paid the accepting fee, cannot attempt the examination again in the future.

Criticism

Another criticism is about the language of the exam. IIT-JEE is conducted only in English and Hindi, making it harder for students where regional languages, like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Urdu, Oriya, Bengali, Marathi, Assamese or Gujarati, are more prominent. As an example, in September 2011, the Gujarat High Court has acted on a Public Interest Litigation by the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad, for conducting the exams in Gujarati.[18] A second petition was made in October by Navsari's Sayaji Vaibhav Sarvajanik Pustakalaya Trust.[19] Another petition was made at the Madras High Court for conducting the exam in Tamil. In the petition it was claimed that not conducting the exam in the regional languages is in violation of article 14 of the Constitution of India. PMK, political party in Tamil Nadu holds a demonstration at Chennai for conducting IIT and other national entrance exams in regional languages also, particularly Tamil in Tamil Nadu.[20] PMK has filed Public Interest Litigation in Madras High Court for conducting IIT JEE entrance exam in Tamil also. They submitted that every year 7.63 lakh students are completing 12th standard in Tamil Nadu. Out of them 75 % are from Tamil Medium. They are forced to appear for the entrance exam in English or Hindi which is neither their medium of instruction nor mother tongue. Being forced as such is against their fundamental right to take up the entrance exam in mother-tongue-based medium of instruction.[21][22]Shiv Sena has urged MHRD to conduct IITJEE and other national undergraduate entrance exams in regional languages, particularly Marathi language in Maharastra.[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Brief History of IIT-JEE" (PDF). Durgesh C. Mangeshkar, Academic Head, IITian’s Prashikshan Kendra. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  2. ^ 5.2 lakh to appear for IIT-JEE
  3. ^ http://forbesindia.com/article/hindsight/iitjee-will-be-missed/32286/1
  4. ^ D Suresh Kumar. JEE fails to get the best: IIT dons. The Times of India. 31 Jul 2008.
  5. ^ 5 lakh aspirants to sit for IIT-JEE in 2012
  6. ^ IITs hike number of examination centres for JEE
  7. ^ "IIT-JEE likely to be abolished by 2013". sify.com. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  8. ^ "Common test for IITs, all engineering courses to kick in from next year - Times Of India". indiatimes.com. 29 May 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  9. ^ "Seeking a common entrance". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 June 2012. {{cite news}}: More than one of |work= and |newspaper= specified (help)
  10. ^ "Express Buzz news". http://expressbuzz.com/cities/hyderabad/52-lakh-to-appear-for-iit-jee/379594.html. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  11. ^ "JEE answers on web today, results May 18".
  12. ^ "Joint Entrance Examination 2012 (IIT-JEE 2012)". jee.iitd.ac.in. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  13. ^ ":: Welcome to Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology ::". rgipt.ac.in. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  14. ^ "LNMIIT : UG Admissions-2012". admissions.lnmiit.ac.in. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  15. ^ a b "Hyderabad boy tops IIT-JEE". sify.com. 25 May 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  16. ^ "JEE 2011 Counseling Brochure" (PDF). Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  17. ^ "JEE 2012 Counseling Brochure". Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  18. ^ "Sahitya Parishad demands entrance tests in Gujarati - Times Of India". indiatimes.com. 2011-09-21. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
  19. ^ "Another PIL seeks entrance tests in Gujarati - Times Of India". indiatimes.com. 2011-10-21. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
  20. ^ "Conduct IIT entrance test in Tamil also: PMK". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 5 March 2012.
  21. ^ "Court notice on plea for entrance exams in Tamil". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 21 April 2012.
  22. ^ "Plea to write IIT entrance in Tamil | Deccan Chronicle". deccanchronicle.com. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  23. ^ http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_shiv-sena-demands-iit-entrance-test-in-regional-languages_1515676
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joint_Entrance_Examination_–_Advanced&oldid=502579145"