The much-touted aptitude test that was to be a part of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for entry into the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) has been shelved, sources with knowledge of the matter said. JEE Advanced which will go completely online from next year is expected to have a similar exam pattern as this year.
“The idea of having an aptitude test was to look at whether an individual has the specific skill-set to get enrolled into an IIT and stay put for the next four years. But we were not able to come to a consensus on whether it will be part of the JEE Advanced exam and if it would have any practical aspect,” said an official close to the development.
From next year, JEE Advanced will go completely online, the details of which will be available in due course. In a statement, IIT Madras director and joint admission board 2017 Chairman Bhaskar Ramamurthi had said that JEE (Advanced) will be conducted online from 2018 onwards.
Under the advice of the then Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, a new pattern for JEE was launched in 2013 wherein the marks of the Class XII board examinations were to be considered. Further, All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) was scrapped and JEE Mains were introduced with 40 percent weightage for Class XII marks.
The JEE examination was split into two parts, JEE Main and JEE Advanced. Those who secure a rank among the top 2.2 lakh students are eligible for the JEE Advanced examination which is the entry criteria for getting admission into the IITs.
For final admission into the IITs based on JEE Advanced, a student must be among the top 20 percentile in their respective boards, a cut-off for which is released by the authorities every year. Here, an aptitude test was to be added to look into the basic knowledge of engineering concepts by students and to also gauge whether they would be able to cope with the system.
However, sources said that the test may be reconsidered in the future if they are able to find a provider for this and there is also a possibility of including it as a part of the JEE Advanced exam.
[“Source-moneycontrol”]
