KOLKATA: : The Joint Admission Board (JAB) of the IITs, which met here to discuss the revised admission procedure on Saturday, announced the new format of the Joint Entrance Examination 2006, to be held on April 9.

Setting aside the opposition to it, the JAB said that school results would be factored into the selection process with the examinations being of a single objective type.

A student can write the examinations only twice — the year he passes the Class XII examination and the year after. No shuffling between IITs would be allowed once an entry was secured. The procedure would be reviewed after JEE-2006.

However, a one-time exception would be allowed for those who passed their qualifying examination in 2005 or earlier. They will be allowed to take JEE-2006 as a last chance, irrespective of the marks secured at school-level or the number of earlier attempts at clearing JEE, if they fulfil the age limit criterion.

Making these announcements after a four-hour meeting with the directors of all the IITs, IT-BHU and ISM, Dhanbad, besides a joint secretary to the HRD ministry, director IIT Kharagpur S. K. Dube said the reforms were aimed at checking the proliferation of coaching classes and guiding students towards acquisition of knowledge at the school level.

M. S. Ananth, Director, IIT Madras, said that the three JEE question papers (of two hours each) can include short write-ups on a topic in Physics, Chemistry or even Mathematics, followed by objective questions based on the write-up. This will test comprehension and analytical ability, while retaining the objective character of the test. Those who join any IIT will not be allowed to sit for the JEE again.

In long-term interest

The Human Resource Development Ministry Joint Secretary, R. Mathur, said the reforms were in the long-term interest of students, school system, the IITs and the nation. Since coaching was a predominantly urban phenomenon, the reforms were likely to favour the rural and the less privileged sections. There is a five per cent relaxation in the Plus Two examination for SC/STs and physically disabled. In case any Board gives only letter grades, the conversion norms for marks would be decided by JEE's Joint Implementation Committee.

Upgradation

PTI reports:

Mr. Mathur said seven institutions — two in Hyderabad, two in West Bengal (Jadavpur University and Bengal Engineering College), two Central universitites (IT-BHU and Aligarh Muslim University) and Cochin University — have been identified for upgradation to IIT level.

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