Ritesh Singh

Assistant director of Genius

lThe IIT has recently introduced three important reforms for its entrance examination. 60 per cent cut-off marks in the plus-two exams have been deemed compulsory for taking the test besides restricting the number of attempts to only two. Moreover, the pattern of questions is also changed. These steps will all be implemented from the next academic session.

For the students as well as the coaching institutes that train them to make it through the IIT entrance examination, I must say that such steps are not welcome. Students need time to adapt themselves to these changes and make necessary improvisations for their preparations. At present, there are no model question papers, which can orient them towards the new system.

Ajay Tripathy

Student

lDefinitely, the new norms that have been introduced have come as a surprise and we were not prepared for them.

About the new pattern of questions, we?ve been intimated that they will be based on the Plus II syllabus. Though this is nothing new, what we need to know is the extent to which the examinations are expected to test our knowledge.

About the cut-off, I don?t think it is going to be much of a problem for those who have a serious mind of getting into the IITs. Not only do such students have the best academic minds, they are sincere and hard-working as well and normally score more than 75 per cent marks in their plus-two examinations. So I don?t think that the stipulated cut-off marks should worry them much.

Vijay Sahu

Parent

lIf the reforms are to be implemented, they should be done from the next year, after the current batch of aspirants take their entrance tests. This way, it gives the aspirants a fair time to get themselves acquainted with the changing demands of the entrance test. After all, it is every student?s dream to crack the IIT entrance test and step on to the hallowed portals of the IITs.

The institute should also supply model test papers to all candidates either in person or should intimate the students about the changing patterns through the news dailies at least a year before the examination. This way, a student can prepare himself and update his repertoire when he sits down to tackle a volley of cerebral questions.

Deepak Prakash

Student

lStudents, who are sincere about getting into the IITs, do not experiment with the examination. So two chances should be sufficient for them to ascertain if they are competent enough to make it to the IITs. The issue of cut-off marks should also not be blown out of proportion as most students, who head for the IITs, are also the top scorers in their plus-two examinations.

Contrary to the hue and cry raised over the reforms, I think that these reforms will harness positive changes for the institute so that those, who are not serious enough about the tests, would be rejected in the preliminary round only.

P. Venugopal

Dean, Academics

XLRI, Jamshedpur

lI don?t understand why an issue is being made out of the cut-off marks set for the IITs. On the contrary, I think a 60-per-cent-cut-off-mark, or at least 50 per cent, should be in vogue for all the competitive examinations. Most students appearing in these examinations tend to neglect their regular studies and concentrate on these examinations, resulting in students with poorer grades getting into the IITs. If these measures are implemented, the students shall be forced to pay equal heed to their plus-two examinations. So a qualification criterion should be made imperative for any competitive examination.

Rajesh Kumar

An IIT-aspirant

lThe reforms announced by the Centre for the IIT entrance examination are not at all justified and I personally feel that every aspirant should join hands against the decision.

Cracking the IIT test is not easy by itself. And to restrict it to only two attempts makes it all the more difficult. The options of taking it once while in the intermediate and the second time the following year goes against the interest of the students.

At the most, the Centre can restrict the number of attempts and the age but it should certainly not put a bar on when the aspirants can appear. We should be given the liberty of taking the test whenever we feel as long as it conforms to the age limit.

Raj Kumar Agarwal,

A parent of an IIT aspirant

lI am all for the Centre?s decision to restrict the number of attempts to two. I have seen that a number of students waste precious time at the prime of their lives by persisting with repeated attempts to crack the exams. Ultimately, they land up nowhere, neither making it to the IITs nor making it big otherwise.

If a bar is slapped, the students will think of moving over to other fields, once they have exhausted their quota, and they can try their luck with any other profession. This may shatter the dream of an aspirant, but to think about the long-term ramifications, I think it will augur well for them when they will realise that they have saved on valuable resources such as time and money.

Shyam Sunder Goel

Part time lecturer, National Institute of Technology

lI strongly feel that the new rules will not enhance the intellectual growth of the students. The process of clearing the prelims first and then heading on to the mains was definitely better. The prelims, in that case, automatically chooses the right candidates. Under the new rules, students scoring just 60 per cent in their school-leaving examination will be eligible to sit in the mains and the system does not sift the competent from the less-deserving.