Examining the exam

India's most prestigious competitive examination at the school-leaving level 8212; the Joint Entrance Examination JEE conducted by the se...

India8217;s most prestigious competitive examination at the school-leaving level 8212; the Joint Entrance Examination JEE conducted by the seven Indian Institutes of Technology 8212; is in for a design change. A long overdue one. This is not to say that JEE has not served students well, in terms of the credibility and equality of access that has marked its administration. But it has also resulted in the emergence of the pernicious parallel system of 8220;coaching8221;. The proliferation of coaching centres has not, please note, contributed to better education. Coaching centres do not believe in going back to first principles or ensuring that the spirit of scientific inquiry is inculcated and encouraged in the student. All they guarantee is the competent ingestion of examination-busting formulae.

The most disturbing aspect of the coaching phenomenon, riding as it does on crores of rupees and ever-rising aspirations, is that it has drained the existing school system of value. Not only are the best teachers lured away, students fixated on clearing the JEE 8212; and we are speaking here of at least the two lakh who sit for the screening tests every year 8212; have little time and less inclination to do their school leaving examinations well. Given that finally only some 3,000-odd students can access the Holy Grail of an IIT seat, this really means that thousands of bright young people are left with few choices in terms of a good university education. It is basically to correct this trend that a panel of experts headed by an ex-JEE chairman, suggested two key reforms in the JEE: that admission into an IIT would also depend on the student getting a first class in the final school-leaving exam and the inclusion of a write-up on a relevant topic.

These and other changes based on the review committee8217;s suggestions deserve consideration. But the good thing is that the proposed changes are not written in stone and could themselves be subject to review. For instance, now that the preliminary test is to be eliminated, will the system be able to do justice to some two lakh answer papers? Will the new element of the 8220;write up8221; itself lead to formulaic answers? Will the fact that students now get only two chances to make the grade 8212; place even more pressure on the already burdened student? The experience of the next few years will provide us with the answers.