It's fair to say that JEE has strayed too far from what most of us would agree should be its real mandate: standardization across the large number of Class XII boards. If it is not a standardizing exam, then what is it?
I want to consider the possibility that the JEE is actually a contest. That would make JEE rank (or, a seat at an IIT) a prize -- it's prestigious, it's highly coveted, it's scarce.
JEE, in other words, is a process very much like that used for selecting people to to represent India in the math, physics, or chemistry Olympiads. Only the numbers are different -- Indian Olympiads probably select a few tens, while the JEE selects a few thousands.
[JEE certainly has features that resemble the Olympiads: tough questions that require you to think creatively, questions that go beyond Class XII (even though the syllabus is nominally the same), questions that test your agility, time pressure, the need for intense preparation, etc.]
If this premise is accepted, then it is better to organize JEE like the national sports championships are organized, or like the Olympiads are organized. Lots of local events, which escalate to higher levels -- district, state and national level championships (and rankings).
This has the desirable property of selecting those who are 'good', 'motivated', 'hard working', 'persistent'.
It has the even more desirable property of eliminating a large number of people along the way, and fairly early in the process. We are talking about more than 90 or 95 percent of the students, who really have no business taking the JEE, who end up taking it because they think -- or their parents think -- the Prize is worth their blood, sweat and adolescent years.
People will say that there will still be coaching. Yes, there will be; but it will not be the dysfunctional, monomaniacal, it's-okay-to-neglect-school kind.
It will be small, sharp and focused. And it will help the right sort of people (willing victims, if you will!) : those who really have a flair for science, and enjoy doing intellectually challenging work.
If IITs want JEE to be a Prize exam, they are better off treating it as such, and take the necessary steps -- organize it like the Olympiads. Have multiple elimination rounds.
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Considering the popularity of reality shows and their associated prizes in India, it will not be long before the top 128 students are invited to a reality show. People can send SMS and vote for the candidates.
Amitabh can ask questions and the winner will get the ultimate prize - an UG seat in IISc !
That I guess was the reason behind the two-level exam in the 90s. A
single subjective-type exam was manageable until the applicants crossed 100,000 when JEE became a 2-step process. I do not know if it was the Ministry's or Court's intervention which reverted it to the single-stage process. And I think it was conducted in two ways... no gap between the screening and Main exam and a gap of a month. Only those who passed the cut-off in the screening exam were graded on their main exam papers. Maybe as some one else suggested if there is no intervention again a two stage process but with a gap of 5-6 months can be reintroduced. Also give consideration to toppers in Olympiads, KVYP(?) winners etc.. There are many of them who may want to join the integrated MSc program or maybe to IISc's new program.
I like this idea. Finish off the state level stuff early on in Dec-Jan, so that the dudes who dont qualify can focus on board exams and AIEEE.
WTF!? You think IIT profs should become referees in a national fashion contest orgy while IISc profs get to do all the fun research?
^^^^ Lol, make the OCAPs do the refereeing ;)
Another IIT/ JEE focused blog post from Abi. Why do you have this IIT envy?
@Anon who said, "WTF!? You think IIT profs should become referees in a national fashion contest orgy ..."
No, I don't think so, and I didn't imply that. If the contest idea is adopted, it will run in a decentralized fashion, just like the Olympiads. It'll leave the IITs (and other partners -- they could easily get a good number of elite colleges / universities) to concentrate on the top 2-5 percent of the students. This could lead to one unified way of rating students' ability, not just in math, physics and chemistry, but in many other subjects too. Also, the state-level event could replace the current CETs, and the national event could replace JEE, AIEEE, PMT, etc.
Of course, this sort of decentralization and partnership will force the IITs to give up on their exceptionalism and exclusivity ...
@Anon who said, "Another IIT/ JEE focused blog post from Abi. Why do you have this IIT envy?"
Envy? We are jumping to conclusions here, aren't we? And why do you think this is about the IITs alone? Don't you think this could have a broader application to AIEEE, Pre-Medical Test, etc.
Its hard to tell whether this idea was floated in a serious vein or if its Prof. Abi being sarcastic...whatever be the situation, I think its brilliant !!
Lavanya R
@Lavanya: Oops. Let me clarify that there's absolutely no sarcasm in this post.
The Olympiads model ensures that a large number of people realize early on that the IITs are not for them -- they get to get on with their lives without wasting away their adolescent years.
I do think this is a good thing.
Envy? We are jumping to conclusions here, aren't we? And why do you think this is about the IITs alone? Don't you think this could have a broader application to AIEEE, Pre-Medical Test, etc.
Ho ho Really. Why are IISC folks so bothered about IITs, I have no idea. IIT folks do not ever mention IISC. Jumping to conclusions - sure , just check how many times you have IIT in your blog versus Pre-medical test and AIEEE. Talk with data Abi.
Being employed in IISc, he cannot criticize IISc in a public blog. So he does the closest thing possible. But try to imagine how much he must be suffering inside. He obviously likes to write and air his opinions, but he cannot do that about IISc, about which he must care more than the IITs. I think he needs our pity and not condemnation.
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