JEE, the Joint Entrance Examination is the examination conducted by the CBSE (Mains) and IITs (Advanced) in a collaboration that serves as criteria for admission in engineering in Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs) like the IIT/NIT/IIIT/IIST. It is regarded as a prestigious exam to crack for the government sector and it has always been famous for the difficulty level coupled with the competitive challenge faced due to a large number of candidates taking the tests.
One of the most talked about changes to the examination would be the pattern changes that happen. The exam used to be subjective in the form of IITJEE until it was made objective in 2005 after removing the screening tests. A more recent change was seen in 2013’s exam with the merging of IITJEE and AIEEE as a common JEE with two levels – Mains and Advanced. This change was much talked about upon introduction.
In October 2015, the HRD ministry formed a committee to suggest changes to the present version of the exam. One of these changes consisted of a suggestion to conduct an aptitude test. The ministry, however, is yet to decide on this issue. This change was suggested because of the case of drop outs in colleges later on, but it was controversial in a way that it was maybe against rural and socially backwards aspirants.
Various newspapers and sources suggest that the exam, which is now a two-tier exam, might not face the change protocols yet. This might be good news for aspirants looking to crack the JEE 2017 version of the exam.
Earlier the National Authority for Testing, NAT, had suggested that shortlisting of 4 lakh students had to be done from the aptitude test for JEE. However, the suggestion of having a cognitive test is time-consuming and it is unlikely that the ministry might implement this suggestion.
Earlier the committee had also suggested that no weightage be given to Board Exams while considering the candidate’s application for admission through JEE Mains institutions like NITs and CFTIs. This was dismissed in a way that the board exam weightage can improve and help identify female candidates and rural students who tend to do well in the Boards. Even though the exam might undergo a change in the long-term, no immediate changes are expected, at least, as an educated guess, not until 2018.
