The list of students who have qualified the JEE Mains 2015, and are eligible to take the JEE Advanced Examination 2015 is already out. And yet again, the students from the CBSE and other Central Boards like ICSE have dominated this list. Close to half the number of students who have been handed the ticket to appear for the prestigious second stage of the JEE Advanced belong to the CBSE board. This leads many to ask the question – what is so special about CBSE that gives it such an advantage in the JEE Main & Advanced?
Similarity of syllabus between CBSE and JEE
This is one of the most important factors that helps students of CBSE get the edge over other candidates in the JEE Advanced Examination. The syllabus for XIth and XIIth standards in CBSE is roughly synonymous to the one prescribed for the JEE Advanced. Most State Boards do not have their syllabi properly aligned with the requirements of the national entrance exams like JEE.
No language papers
Some state boards, like the West Bengal Board, also require the students to compulsorily take up a second language, in addition to English, which makes the students’ task of preparing for the board exams and JEE simultaneously, all the more difficult. With physics, chemistry and mathematics dominating your daily routine in the lead up to the JEE Exams, it is very difficult to focus on language papers for the board exams.
Extensive reach across the country
Presently, CBSE sources its student population from all across the country, but caters to less than 10% of the target population. The rest of the student community finds place in the state boards. This is mainly because most state run schools are easily affordable and within the reach of the vast majority of Indian students. Getting into a CBSE school, on the other hand, has more or less remained a privilege for the middle class and upper class students because of the high fees charged by most of them. The students belonging to the affluent classes, who manage to get into CBSE affiliated schools, are also able to afford good coaching facilities to boost their chances in the JEE Advanced Examination.
Ability to attract meritorious students from both urban and rural India
An overwhelming majority of CBSE schools are located in the urban regions of the country. Cities have become major engines of India’s growth in the recent times. Migration from rural to urban areas has also increased and parents in rural areas are often on the lookout for opportunities to send their children to neighbouring towns and cities to give them better educational facilities. This means that most meritorious students in rural regions, after formally beginning their school lives in their locality, often make their way into urban areas for better facilities. CBSE schools become their preferred choices for schooling thereafter. In short, a central board like CBSE is thus able to attract merit from both the rural and urban pockets of the country, which is not the case with state boards.
Presence of good quality teachers
Not only does CBSE have a pool of creditable students, drawn from all across the country, the board also finds teachers of good quality owing to the handsome salaries and job securities that it offers. Teachers are as important in a teaching system as the students, and most state boards fall far behind CBSE in this aspect. The pay scales of teachers in some state run schools are sometimes not up to the mark. And often results in the teachers also moving to CBSE schools in search of good income opportunities.
