New Delhi: Securing 60 percent marks in class XII will not be sufficient for those aspiring for IITs from 2011 as a revision in eligibility criteria could see the cut-off percentage go upto 80% or higher.
The government on Monday appointed a committee of IIT directors to suggest the revised entrance system under which marks obtained in class XII will be given importance along with the entrance marks.
"The present criteria is that students need to secure 60 per cent at class XII for appearing in IIT-JEE. This is not acceptable. The minimum marks required for IIT-JEE could be raised up to 80 to 85 percent," Sibal told reporters after a meeting of the IIT Council, the apex decision making body for the elite institutes, here.
IIT-Delhi professor M. Balakrishnan told IANS: "This proposal has been mooted for almost a year now. There is talk in the ministry and among IITs to take such a decision soon."
The move is aimed at ensuring that students take their class XII seriously and checking the growth of coaching centres, which are thriving on imparting coaching to students for IIT entrance, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said.
At the same time he added that the decision about the required percentage will be taken by the committee.
"The coaching centres are giving training for the IIT entrance. As a result, the students are not studying seriously for class XII exam and giving more attention to entrance. We want to get rid of the coaching centres by giving more weightage to the board exam," Sibal said.
The IIT-JEE system was revised three years ago when the eligibility criteria was raised to 60 percent at class XII level for appearing in the entrance.
Sibal said a three-member committee has been set up to look into the curriculum and submit its report within three months, suggesting required changes.
"All proposed changes would be implemented by 2011," a senior ministry official said.
The committee comprises Science and Technology Secretary T Ramasami, Secretary Department of Biotechnology M K Bhan and CSIR Director General Samir Brahmachari.
The committee will deliberate on new age courses to be started by the IITs. Sibal has been insisting that the IITs could explore starting courses in Humanities and Medicine also. The committee will give its report by January.
Besides, the government has decided to change the eligibility of students for availing the merit-cum-means scholarship being given at the end of class XII. The income criteria, which was Rs two lakh per annum as family income, has been changed to Rs 4.5 lakh.
To attract more foreign students, the government will reduce the fee structure for students from SAARC and African countries, Sibal said.
However, coaching centres like Career Launcher, which trains students to face the competitive exam, said that doing away with the coaching centres or increasing weightage for the Class 12 exam marks was not the real solution.
"The coaching centres will not be affected if the entrance exams focus on Class 12 marks. Because we as an industry cater to what inputs are required, so we would train for the IIT-JEE and the board exams. Coaching centres exist because of the existing lacuna at schools. The thrust should be on raising the standard of board exams and to focus on application rather than rote learning," Gautam Puri, vice-chairman of Career Launcher, told IANS.
Sibal has also asked for setting up a five-member committee to make the IITs more competitive. Another committee has been constituted to look into the IIT curriculum.
Bureau Report with IANS inputs
First Published: Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 00:48