Getting into an IIT is a dream nurtured by every aspiring engineer. Students start preparation for the IIT JEE since a very young age and give up a precious lot to live the dream. There is no euphemism that can neutralise the agony of the fact that their journey to IIT is about to have some more barriers. News is that the IIT Joint Admission Committee is in view of making an addition to the JEE Exam – a written test. The purpose of the committee behind introducing a third component post the JEE Advanced is still unclear. However, there is a high probability that this news may not be optimistically welcomed by the students as well as several coaching classes.

In the recent years the passing
rates of JEE Main and JEE Advanced have been sorely dipping and with such major
modifications, these statistics could soon tumble to a gruesome single digit.
Several junior college students planning for JEE attempt 2017 are already
dreading this change. Even the ones fresh off the boat have a distasteful view
about this. “If this idea takes form, it will
shatter more dreams than ever. The process of applying to IITs takes a huge
toll on our resources. I for one, would not want to apply to an IIT if after
all the efforts, my chances of getting through were only diminished,” says
Vignesh Mehta who passed the JEE Advanced this year.

There
are, although, certain other people who gladly invite such a move and look
forward to more radical changes in the future. “It is a welcomed change,” says
Pramod Maheshwari, MD and CEO, Career Point Coaching Classes, Kota. “Nowadays,
students are not focused on improving their fundamentals but in finding
shortcuts to crack the exams which in turn diminishes their creativity and
scientific ability. Thus, students are able to score marks only by virtue of
tricks to solve the questions. This move by the Authorities will improve
the quality of students entering the IITs.”

Some
may also wonder if this decision is associated with the fact that a number of
IIT entrants lack basic conversational English skills and lose out on reputed
placements in their final year due to this flaw. Then there is also the
question of probability of implementation. The Committee is working on
developing a more integrated system that could correct theoretical inputs,
since evaluating written papers is time consuming and human checking will
always have room for error and bias. This is the biggest bottleneck that the
Authorities need to overcome.

Such
ideas and considerations only reiterate the tedious travail of Indian students
to fulfilling their dreams and how drastic attempts for improvement sometimes
spell fiasco to the initiators owing to the grunt of thousands of unhappy
students and parents. One can only hope that if this initiative takes shape, it
doesn’t prove to be a dud in the face of Authorities and the already paranoid
students.