Sibal plan has mixed reactions

“I think the pressure on students to score marks will increase now,” said Tarun Gupta, a Class 12 student, planning to sit for the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) entrance this year.

“I think the pressure on students to score marks will increase now,” said Tarun Gupta, a Class 12 student, planning to sit for the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) entrance this year.

HT Image

The 17-year-old was reacting to Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal’s suggestion to raise the qualifying percentage for the test.

Sibal had on Monday proposed a new system under which only high-scoring Class 12 students should be allowed to sit for the IIT entrance exams.

Sibal suggested IITs should give more weightage to Class 12 exam marks for admission to their undergraduate courses.
This would stop the growth of coaching centres for the IIT entrance test, an industry that discourages students from taking their Class 12 exams seriously.

This proposal met with mixed reactions from teachers, students and coaching institutes.

Owners of most coaching institutes said they help bridge the gap between Class 12 CBSE curricula and the syllabus of the entrance exams.

“Trying to make the cut-off marks high will lead to more stress among students,” said Aakash Chaudhry, director of Aakash Institute, a coaching body for IIT-JEE entrance.

Supporting the proposal, Jyoti Bose, principal, Springdales School, Dhaula Kuan said, “Now, students will focus on Class 12 studies and more importance will be given to Board results. The high cut-off will ensure students will be more realistic
now and look for other avenues rather than just pinning their hopes on IIT.”

RK Sharma, principal, Ahlcon Public School, expressed similar views: “Students will now attend classes.”Some educationists disagree.

“This proposal contradicts the HRD ministry’s move to implement grading in Class 10 to reduce stress among students. Since the cut-offs for IIT entrance would be high so the pressure to score will distress the student,” said SS Rathi.

Mamata Singh, who will also appear for the entrance, said: “The entrance stresses on analytical skills while boards are more theoretical. I think the high cut-offs will prevent some deserving candidates from appearing for the entrance.”