IITBHF and IITBAA (http://www.iitbombay.org)

A CUT ABOVE THE BEST

By Shobha John and Anubha Sawhney

The Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) for the Indian Institutes of Technology is an intensely demanding, highly stressful competition. Should it maintain its tough standards or be made simpler? Sunday Times checks out the debate

The times they are a-changin’. And stressed-out children and educationists are glad they are. With IIT Kharagpur adding 80 B.Tech and 120 PG seats comes another cheery news: one of the toughest tests of mental prowess, JEE is set to get simpler. But the moot question is, should it?
Should IITs become like other engineering colleges with exams based on the CBSE syllabus? Can these "world class, incredible institutes’’ as Bill Gates once said, afford to lower their high standards? These are "world treasures’’ after all, Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com once said.

Academicians insist an easier JEE won’t dilute Brand IIT. "Only the brightest will survive,’’ stresses Prof Shishir K Dube, director, IIT Kharagpur. "Why should the standard of entrance examinations be different in different colleges? Everywhere it should be of XII standard.’’

Ram Kelkar, senior financial consultant in Chicago, and director of IIT Heritage Fund, says: "I see nothing wrong if the objective is to match JEE with the 10+2 curriculum....Incidentally, this has parallels to the changes in Scholastic Aptitude Test this year. Time said, ‘For decades, SAT was, at its heart, an aptitude test ... the College Board changed SAT to better gauge mastery of subject matter ...the new SAT will go beyond basic algebra and geometry...and could actually help produce a national curriculum, a sweeping education reform.’’

STRESS RELIEF:

Prof D P Kothari, director-incharge, IIT Delhi, says, "JEE should be made simpler if it reduces stress. The aim of any entrance exam is to get the best of the candidates. This purpose is served irrespective of the type of paper. We’ll still get the cream of students.’’

And Gita, a stressed-out mother of 16-year-old Rohit Singh, an IIT aspirant, hopes and prays he’ll be among the cream. "I know my son is capable of getting through. For his sake and for the sake of other parents, I definitely want an easier exam. Brand IIT will never change — an IIT is an IIT.’’ In the meantime, she fasts and goes to Sai Baba temple. "If Rohit gets into IIT, we’ll go to Shirdi. He hardly sleeps and it’s affecting his health.’’

Dube insists a simpler JEE would also enhance the credibility of Board exams.

NO DILUTION: But not everyone is buying this argument. They insist the tough JEE should continue. "After all, what is IITs’ mandate?’’ asks Dr Sirohi, former IIT-Delhi director and V-C, Bhopal University. "To create the best human resource who will be leaders. Leadership is never free from stress,’’ he insists. "JEE tests analytical power and raw intelligence. So why not train students to manage this stress? Plus, a simpler JEE would result in crowding of the all-India rank holders.’’ Others feel easier exams will lead to intellectually poorer IIT students. "Anything that’s too easy is not worth it,’’ says Pramod Joshi, MD, Syncata India, IIT-Kanpur alumnus. The stress is not because of the exam, he says, but the skewed ratio of students to the number of seats available. "If JEE is made simpler, you would need more filters, maybe even a three-tier exam.’’
And hey, making exams easier means tougher competition. Rohit realises that: "Who wouldn’t want a simpler JEE? But if the exam is easier for me, it’ll be easier for others too. More students will get selected for a limited number of seats.’’ And yes, he’s upto his neck in studies. "I just don’t get any time to relax. I just go from one coaching class to the other.’’

MORE SEATS: In fact, more students will get high marks within a narrow band, says Arvind Kumar, director, Career Plan, and IIT-Kanpur alumnus. "IITs would need more innovative ways of testing the really good students,’’ he says. Chetan Bhagat, author of Five Point Someone and an IIT Delhi alumnus, says, "IITs are far more competitive than US Ivy League colleges. That means we need more seats.’’

Also, do easier exams mean that IIT will be pegged far lower than MIT, Berkeley and Stanford? "Let’s face it — Brand IIT is its students. Faculty and research at the above institutes is much better,’’ says Kumar.

Would an easier JEE ring the death knell for coaching institutes? Dube says, "Special coaching may become redundant. However, coaching for the 10+2 syllabus will take over.’’ Mediocre coaching centres will not be able to survive, visualises Gupta. "But if the exam is made simpler, even one mark can make a huge difference. I see more students going for coaching to get that extra edge.’’
Agrees Pramod Kumar Bansal, director, Bansal Classes, Kota: "Coaching centres won’t lose out. People looking for an extra-edge will keep coming to us. (But) the proposal to base it on the CBSE/ICSE syllabus will edge out students from small towns studying under their respective state boards. Also, making the exam simpler will mean higher cut-offs.’’

SOLUTIONS: JEE can be strengthened. Sirohi suggests that only those who obtain 75% or more in 10+2 should be allowed to sit for JEE. "A study conducted recently establishes a high correlation between the performance in X and XII, and performance in B Tech.’’ How about opening more IITs? Says Manvinder Singh Banga, chairman, Hindustan Lever Limited, Mumbai, "When I passed out in 1975, there were five IITs. By now, there should have been 50.’’ Adds Joshi, "Why not open one IIT in two years, instead of more simultaneously. Also, IITs could tie-up with good engineering colleges so that its Brand remains intact.’’

Bhagat says IITs should have some real competitors. "Many good engineering colleges are better for India than one high profile one.’’ Kumar suggests that innovative JEE questions can be asked to test deeper understanding of the subject. Look at it this way. "There’re some hidden benefits of JEE which are normally not mentioned — it creates a habit for hard work,’’ says Sirohi. And that’s something all IITians understand — it’s in their DNA.

(With inputs by Chidanand Rajghatta in Washington)

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