Sibal in third push for one engineering test

The proposed panel, most likely to be headed by scientist C.N.R. Rao, would be the third of its kind to study the feasibility of a single entrance test since the idea was floated amid opposition from the premier tech schools.

Unlike the earlier committees, the new panel will include IIT faculty who have also been opposing the idea of giving weightage to Class XII marks because of the heterogeneity in assessment standards among school boards.

The IITs have agreed to follow a two-tier test — comprising the JEE-Main and JEE-Advanced — that will replace the IIT-JEE and the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) from next year.

Engineering College Chennai

The JEE-Main, the first-round test of the new Joint Entrance Examination, will be mandatory for students aspiring for admission to any of the centrally funded technical institutions such as the IITs, NITs and IIITs.

Engineering Industry

The JEE-Advanced will be conducted entirely by the IITs, which would then draw up a merit list based on students’ performance in the test and provided they are among the top 20 percentile holders of their respective boards and categories (general or reserved).

A student’s percentile score is obtained by dividing the number of students below him or her with the number that appeared, and multiplying the ratio by 100.

The two-tier test, to be followed by the IITs, however, defeats the one-nation-one-test idea. So HRD minister Kapil Sibal, who has been advocating a single entrance exam in engineering, started exploring ways to get the IITs on board.

In 2010, the ministry set up a committee of IIT directors headed by IIT Kharagpur’s Damodar Acharya which suggested a common test modelled on the US-based Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and weightage to school board performance for admission to engineering and science courses.