Class XII marks may play key role in IIT entry

Dear all Marks scored in the Plus Two board examinations are likely to become a key determining factor in addition to performance in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for admission into the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) by 2011.

In a couple of months, a pan-IIT committee, to suggest reforms to JEE, is expected to submit its report recommending ways to factor in the marks scored by students in higher secondary examinations while preparing the IIT merit list."We hope to devise a methodology to compute a normalised Plus Two cut-off eligibility score for each educational board (CBSE, ICSE, and State Boards). If it's approved, then only students who have scored this cut-off mark would become eligible to appear for JEE,'' IIT Madras deputy director V G Idichandy,said on Monday. The present eligibility norm of an aggregate score of 60% in Plus Two determined by the IIT standing council, as opposed to 85% recommended by a JEE review committee four years ago, is considered too poor a benchmark.

The move comes in the backdrop of widespread concern among top academicians over the current IIT admission system which is entirely dependent on JEE scores and ignores the board examination results. However, the even more difficult part is to convince authorities of all the boards to declare Plus Two results within a specified time frame every academic year.

Idichandy acknowledged JEE can't be abolished ``but we want to give as much importance as possible to the performance of students at the school level'' in IIT admissions.

REGARDS

AAKASH

(E-member)