New Delhi: The move to change the eligibility for IIT entrance and give more weightage to Class-XII results is aimed at shifting the focus of students from clearing the entrance to concentrating on school studies
and reduce their tendency to go to coaching institutes.
The IIT Council, the highest decision making body for the IITs, yesterday decided to set up a committee to suggest the required changes in the eligibility criteria which is 60 percent in Class-XII.
The move also aims at checking the practice of students going to coaching centres whose sole aim is to train them crack the entrance, sources said.
The intensive coaching by these centres tend to kill the creativity and independent thinking ability of the students.
The quality of students cracking the JEE after getting training from the coaching centres is a matter of concern. If the criteria is changed, the coaching centres will also shift their focus to board examination, they said.
The coaching institutions exploit the vulnerability of students and parents, sources said.
The move to change the criteria was mooted in 2005 by an IIT committee which gave emphasis on a correlation between performance of students in the institutes and that in school.
The report of present committee is expected to be submitted to the HRD Ministry by December this year, sources said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 20:50