New Delhi: Ahead of the crucial joint council meeting of IITs and NITs tomorrow on the new format of entrance test, Super-30 founder Anand Kumar, well known for getting over 300 students from marginalised sections into the IITs, has suggested making the test more "transparent" and conducting it twice a year.
In a letter to HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, Anand, from whose coaching institute 27 out of 30 students cracked the IIT-JEE this year, has also suggested that students from rural areas be given three chances instead of two at present to qualify for the examination.
He said the proposed format for entrance test would lead to over-dependence on coaching as students would have to take coaching for doing well in aptitude test, for subject test as well as for doing well in class XII, whose marks will also be taken into account for preparing the merit list.
Citing CBSE class X results this year where students scored high grades, he said such high marks are never given in the state board exams and that can put lakhs of students from state boards at a disadvantage in weightage to class XII marks.
According to Anand, to reduce dependency on private coaching institutes, the proposed single entrance test papers be set jointly by team of professors of CBSE and IIT, so as to provide a level-playing field to all students, including those from the state boards. He also urged Sibal to announce the timings, structure and the format of the proposed single test at the earliest so that the students could start preparations accordingly.
He also suggested that all papers under the new format should be based on `multiple choice questions`. PTI