IIT hopes dashed by ‘glitch in the matrix’, a 17-yr-old’s spirited fight against the system
A Vadodara resident, mathematics was close to his heart since his primary school days. From Class VI, Khush was determined to pursue engineering as he believes “engineers are all-rounders in every field”.
6 min read
Khush Keyush Patel At a time when engineering aspirants across the country are expected to be busy in the final lap of preparations ahead of IIT-JEE Advanced scheduled on June 4, Khush Keyush Patel was, instead, in the Gujarat High Court watching the court proceedings.
However, his hopes to appear for the June 4 exam have been dashed with the High Court refusal to grant him interim relief after the National Testing Agency (NTA) asserted that there was no technical glitch in recording his Mains result that showed he had selected “no response” to the 75 questions he attempted.
Notwithstanding the setback, the 17-year-old is determined to fight the case to its logical end in the court.
After the media attention, his parents have received several calls from students across the country facing similar troubles, Khush says. His advocate Dhaval Vyas says he has received 40-50 calls from aggrieved students from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi, among others. “Not everyone can approach the court because you need hard evidence to do that,” Khush, who has been preparing for IIT JEE exams since the past four years, adds.
A Vadodara resident, mathematics was close to his heart since his primary school days. From Class VI, Khush was determined to pursue engineering as he believes “engineers are all-rounders in every field”.
After ranking within top 20 in most of the all-India mock tests conducted by the private-run Allen Career Institute in the past four years, he was confident of cracking the highly competitive exams in flying colours. Since the past two years, a normal day would involve 11-13 hours of study on an average.
While he acknowledges that “IIT is not the end of life” and his talent would shine through regardless of entrance exam glitches, what bothers him is that NTA questioned his eligibility based on the score he claims was a result of the “glitch”.
“My eligibility was questioned in court (by NTA) as I scored seven percentile (on account of not attempting any question, as per NTA records) in JEE Mains. My only request was that I be allowed to appear for the JEE Advanced exams but that was not allowed by the court on the grounds of eligibility,” he says, emphasising that NRI and OCI students do not even have to sit for the Mains and can directly appear for the Advanced.
“If such provisions can be made and priority can be given for students outside India, then why not for an Indian student? I was allowed to fill the application form for JEE advanced (upon the court’s directions), but what am I supposed to do with only filling the form if I’m not allowed to appear for the exam?” he asks.
The student, in his petition, insisted that a fair chance be given to him after examining the records — the response sheet, a screen-recording and the computer used to download the response sheet. However, the request was declined.
A crucial piece of evidence that Khush has been relying on is a screen-recording he took as he was downloading the response sheet at 7:03 am on April 20 that showed the answers he had marked. According to the provisional answer key, tallied with his own response sheet of marked answers, Khush had scored 300 out of 300. The screen-recording was, however, without the taskbar and no mouse cursor movements, which the NTA relied on to assert that the screen-recording may have been doctored.
Khush’s move to screen-record the process was borne out of past lessons learnt the hard way. “When I had tried to select the exam slot for session 1 and had tried to pay, it had repeatedly failed. I had written to NTA then but received no response and was told that there was no evidence to show the payment was failing. I took that as a lesson and started recording the screen. Many students who are alleging glitches did not even download the response sheet at the time and they cannot approach the court without evidence,” says Khush.
On the NTA allegations that a no taskbar and no mouse cursor movement allude to a ‘mala fide’ screen-recording, Khush says he has disabled his taskbar, an option available, as a personal preference and he was operating through keyboard shortcuts.
“NTA says I may have panicked or got nervous or was depressed and did not answer a single question. How is that even possible? I have appeared for 50-60 mock tests, simulated to the test conditions and have always scored well. This testing system is something that I am very well acquainted with. After the response sheet which showed I had not answered a single question, we took a flight from Vadodara to Delhi and met the director general of NTA Vineet Joshi on April 21. I told him ‘test me right now, at any difficulty level that you want to, and I’ll answer it’,” says an indignant Khush.
The teenager says IIT was his sole focus. “I did not apply to the other entrance tests, but now I’ll have to research where all I can apply. BITSAT is one option I’m considering though I’ll have to consult my teachers. I’ve not decided on the branch that I want to pursue but I’m slightly inclined towards computer science,” he adds.
While going abroad for undergraduation is an option that his relatives have suggested, Khush remains disinclined. “It’s not a financial problem but I feel that I should study and stay in India,” he adds.
While Khush is not dispirited by his legal battle, it has, however, affected his sister, who is in Class XI, the most. “She was motivated to follow my path but after seeing what has happened with me, she is mentally affected and unable to focus on her studies. She is scared if she has to go through a similar ordeal. For now, she has chosen Science with Mathematics, but has her doubts now,” says Khush.
Khush’s father Keyush Patel is a BCom graduate and runs an audio-visual systems business in Vadodara, while his mother, Bhranti Patel, an electrical engineering graduate, is a homemaker.
You May Like
Photos
