IIT-JEE abolished from 2013 - for better or for worse???

On September 15, 2011 at around 0700 hours, I received a call from the Director of a reputed Coaching Institute for IIT-JEE, “Abhishek Sir, sorry to disturb you so early in the morning but I was so tensed, I had to call you up. Have you heard about IIT-JEE and other Engineering Entrance Examinations getting abolished from 2013? We are ruined. I have no idea what we should do now.”

“Such issue had been brought up a year ago too by Mr. Kapil Sibal and the IITs had declined. This time too, the IITs will reject it. I am sure this is a proposal that will need approval of other parties involved. Let me have a look at the news and call you back. Until then, do not worry,” I replied.

“Yes, it is a proposal and I hope it gets rejected. I will wait for your call. Please call as soon as you read the news,” he said.

News :

“IIT Council on September 14, 2011 decided to have a common entrance test for IITs/NITs, state government-run and private engineering colleges throughout the country from 2013. It also decided to go in for a complicated fee hike structure. But there is a catch -- both the decisions are subject to approval from the state governments and the finance ministry. In case it does not meet the states' approval, only IITs/NITs – under the central government – would have a common entrance test.”

When I read the news (as quoted in italics above), I was shocked! This sure is a proposal that needed approval of State Governments and the Finance Ministry. But even if the proposal is declined by any one or both the concerned parties, IIT-JEE is sure to go down the drains and there would be a common aptitude test for admission into IITs and other Engineering Colleges. Weightage will also be given to Class 12th Board Examination marks. The final list for selection into IITs and other Engineering Colleges will be drawn on the basis of the common aptitude test score and Class 12th Board Examination marks. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Kapil Sibal with the Directors of all IITs which meant that the proposal was from Mr. Sibal and IITs agreed to a common entrance test.

The next thought was how students, coaching institutes, IITs would be affected as a result of eliminating IIT-JEE and having one exam for all Engineering Colleges.

For students, the decision is more negative than positive. Let’s see the positive points first.

The positive for students is that they will just have to take one examination. They will have to study less and not need to work too hard. Board examinations are such that 2 months of study will be sufficient to score top marks (I know I had studied for just 15 days for my Board Examinations and still stood 3rd in my State).

There are however umpteen number of negatives.

In Board examinations, the difference in marks obtained is not much among students. Scoring high marks in these exams is not that difficult. There is nothing special in these exams. The same questions in the same pattern are repeated. These exams are there to test Rote Learning rather than Actual Learning. Even an average student can get more than 90% easily. Now, where will the difference in marks come? You guessed it right – the common aptitude test score.

The aptitude test will not be of more than 3 hour duration. So, for students, it will be a matter of 3 hours that will decide their career. If any student falls ill or has not been able to sleep nicely the night before the exam or is having a bad day on the day of the exam, his career will get ruined. Earlier, the risks for students were diversified. If a bright student could not do well in one entrance examination, he could do well in another and still end up in a reputed college.

Mr. Sibal and the IIT Directors thought it was a financial burden on the students’ parents since the student had to apply to many entrance examinations. Well, I wish Mr. Sibal had cared to conduct a survey among the school students’ parents and tried to explore whether that really was a financial burden or not. The cost of application of Engineering Colleges are minimal and the parents will always be willing to pay that much to avoid the risk he is imposing upon them by having a common test.

Mr. Sibal has been very concerned about the stress levels of students. [That is the reason why Grading System was introduced for Higher Secondary Examination (Class 10 Board Examination) because of which several students this year with 10 GPA could not get admission in Class 11th at top schools because several hundred others had the same perfect GPA.]

There are so many suicides happening because of this. He thinks the stress levels would decrease as a result of this change. To further reduce stress levels in people, he might also think about BANNING marriages in India because the stress levels are so high in married couples that quite a few of them have committed suicide and several others are on the verge of it. Also BAN employment because majority of people have increased stress levels because of their job.

What Mr. Sibal does not realize is that he is actually weakening the current generation of India. When these students grow up with minimal stress, I wonder how they are going to cope with the serious stresses that the world will present them with. The suicide cases might increase at IITs because students who have faced so little stress before getting into IITs might not be able to cope with the rigorous curriculum of IITs (where we are often required to take 7-8 tests in just 2 days). IIT-JEE and other Engineering Entrance Examinations have been there for decades. So many of us took the stress of these examinations and the-then curriculum as a result of which we are mentally tough and ready for any level of stress. Do not make our current generation “Phool-kumaris”.

The common aptitude test is a curse for students weak in language. Such tests are primarily language based in which misinterpreting a word or a phrase in a question can result in a wrong answer. If you notice, majority of students in villages and small towns are weak in language and hence they will be at a major disadvantage.

Many deserving students might get marks in their Board Exams lower than those of below-average students with rich parents.

I have been to quite a few villages and small towns where if you pay the School Principal and/or invigilator a good amount, he will arrange for a separate room for your kid to take Board Examinations with text-books open. Now, more people (even Coaching Institutes) would be paying huge amounts to the School Principals and/or invigilators for their kids. Corruption therefore, would increase to higher levels. Mr. Sibal did nothing to support Shri Anna Hazare to eradicate corruption but he is doing lots to increase corruption.

With this proposal, Mr. Sibal wanted to put an end to Coaching Institutes as they were extracting a lot of money from students’ parents. While rich people could afford sending their kids to these institutes, poor people especially those living in villages and small towns could not. So, it was not fair for these poor people. But had Mr. Sibal thought a little deeper, his assumptions and conclusions would have been different.

First, the schools in India never teach anything related to the aptitude tests nor is there any aptitude course planned for future. This means that students will flock to Coaching Institutes for guidance. For example, you see Coaching Institutes like TIME, Career Launcher, IMS, etc. for CAT (MBA) earning millions to provide coaching for CAT’s aptitude and verbal tests. Even now, does he think Coaching Institutes will go out of business?

Second, now the school teachers will also start their private tuitions because Board Exams will become important. How will he stop them? Does he have any regulations or restrictions in place?

Third, has he first ensured a proper school education in Government Schools? Does he have any idea about the quality and attendance of school teachers in villages and small towns? Both are pathetic. So, how does he think students will study for their Board Exams seriously now? Obviously, they would need the support of Coaching Institutes that will now modify their approach a little and start teaching for Board Examinations.

My point in conveying the above is that however hard Mr. Sibal or IIT Directors (or whoever for that matter) try to eliminate Coaching Institutes, these institutes will always be there. Even if one changes the admission criteria for IITs and other Engineering Colleges to be something as basic as tying one’s shoelace, the Coaching Institutes will still be there preparing students to tie their shoelace in the most innovative way.

Why the hell then, is Mr. Sibal trying to go against these Coaching Institutes? Let them earn and pay taxes to the Government. If there is fungus on his neck, does he cut his neck off or try to cure just the fungus? If his concern was to reduce financial burden on the poor caused by these institutes, he could have imposed restrictions on the fees charged by these Institutes. He could have invested his time in coming up with regulations in the Coaching Industry rather than unsuccessfully trying to eliminate the Coaching Industry as a whole. Instead, why doesn’t he invest his energy in eradicating prostitution? Is that more noble an industry than the Coaching one? Or he fears his rich friends might not have company at night if prostitution is eradicated?

A year ago, Mr. Sibal had tried to introduce the criterion of minimum 80% in Board Examinations to qualify for admission into IITs. That proposal was rejected by IIT Directors. With the current proposal, the minimum 80% (or even more) criterion will tacitly be imposed upon students. I do not understand why the IIT Directors could not read between the lines this time.

I would be wrong if I said that the Coaching industry will be unaffected. As I said earlier, the Coaching Institutes will start coaching students for their Board Examinations and the aptitude test. The teachers in current Coaching Institutes get handsome pay package because of their superior level of understanding of concepts. With the level of difficulty reduced (due to the possible introduction of weightage on Board Examinations and a common aptitude test), there will be an increase in supply of teachers and hence the pay packages will see a decline. Mathematics teachers stand to gain the most as aptitude tests need superior Math skills. Even school teachers will now open Coaching Institutes to teach students of their school and earn some extra money which means there will now be a Coaching Institute at every corner. In a nut shell, the current major Coaching Institutes will decrease in size and scale, and many new ones will open (who might not even register their institutes with the Government or pay taxes). The industry will become even more fragmented leading to many problems (tax loss being one of them).

For IITs, their brand is going to get diluted. I have travelled across the world and worked in international teams. People looked at me with respect just because I had the tag of IIT on me. No IIT alumnus would refute that IIT is an exclusive brand which Mr. Sibal is relentlessly trying to dilute (may be because he could not qualify IIT-JEE). IIT-JEE is considered one of the toughest in the world and dreaded by most. That is why only the best make it to IITs. With IIT-JEE possibly getting abolished, I have my doubts over the quality of new IIT Alumni.

At this point of time, I can only advise the IITs to conduct separate subject tests and use the aptitude test to screen students or think of something better. The IIT Alumni Association should also be involved in the decision-making. And all this should be done before it’s too late. A brand takes years to build but only a couple of months to get ruined. A brand like IIT has been flying like an eagle high in the sky. Time to protect it before a couple of morons force it down grovelling in the ground.