It is difficult to fathom why Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal wants to increase the minimum marks to be eligible for the IIT Joint Entrance Exams. Ostensibly, his argument is that students fare badly in the 12th class in school and then use all their time to cram for the IIT JEEs — so he wants to stop this. But this is a simplistic view. Students also cram for their board examinations, how is Sibal going to stop this? Eventually it seems to be a choice between cramming for the 12th Board and the IITJEEs. Since students are tested on more parameters in the IITJEE, it would appear this is the better examination to be focusing upon.
The larger issue here is of the cutoff marks for the IITs. Students who get into these institutions are those who score more than 97-98 per cent. It cannot be anyone’s case that those scoring 95 are qualitatively inferior to those getting 97 per cent. Sibal needs to find some way to incentivise the IITs to create more campuses or to increase their student intake.
Usha Jain, Ahmedabad
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