Calcutta, Sept. 6: A review committee of the JEE board today recommended a string of changes in the exam system which it said was “defective” and had deprived many good students of seats in engineering and medical colleges.
The changes are expected to be finalised by the end of this month and implemented from next year.
The suggestions include reducing the number of multiple-choice questions and increasing short-answer-type questions.
“The board’s examination review committee, consisting of experts and teachers from IITs, universities, colleges and schools, held a four-hour meeting with board officials today to discuss the changes necessary in the Joint Entrance Examination system,” board chairman Siddhartha Dutta said.
“All the suggestions of the committee will be scrutinised. They will be placed at a meeting of the board members in the third week of this month for approval,” he added.
Dutta said the final changes would be announced after the board members give their go-ahead.
Candidates now have to answer 100 questions — 80 of them multiple-choice and the rest short-answer-type questions.
“A section of experts has suggested to the board that multiple-choice questions be reduced from 80 to 60. Some others, however, feel the number should not be below 70,” a board member said.
The committee has also put forward a proposal to return to the pre-2005 system when students had to answer only long- and short-answer questions.
The experts said the multiple-choice pattern, introduced in 2005, had been found to be “defective” as it had deprived many good students of seats.
An analysis of students’ performances so far has revealed that the multiple-choice pattern mostly helps mediocre students who can afford private coaching.
On the other hand, several bright students without the financial means to enrol in private coaching classes have failed to crack the test.
The review panel has also recommended equal weightage for all subjects.
It has said the physics and chemistry papers should have 100 marks each. At present, these two subjects carry 50 marks each. Only the math and biology papers carry 100 marks each.
Some members of the panel feel the tests should be spread over two days instead of being held on the same day as is done now.
“The examination should not be held on a single day as such a system exposes students to a lot of stress,” a member said.