PUNE: Minister for higher and technical education Rajesh Tope
has said the government is strongly in favour of joining the national
joint entrance exam (JEE) for engineering admissions from the academic
year 2014-15, instead of 2013-14 as has been proposed by the HRD
ministry. "We will convey our position to the HRD ministry soon," he
told reporters here on Friday.
"We want to ensure that students from Maharashtra get adequate time to fully prepare for JEE," he said. "Joining the exam from 2013-14 will provide very little time for those students who are currently in Std XII, to prepare for the JEE, which will be based on the new curriculum for Stds XI and XII," he said. "What we have ensured, for now, is that the revised curriculum textbooks are available in the market for students to start their studies," he added.
Tope also said the government is proposing a 50:50 relative weightage to performance in the higher secondary certificate (HSC, Std XII) board exam and in the national JEE, for admissions to the larger section of unaided engineering colleges in the state, following the adoption of JEE by the state.
The state's final decision on when to join the national JEE and on the relative weightage issue will take some time to come through. The two issues will now be referred to the state cabinet for its approval, said Tope. On Thursday, the state government had approved the all-India single entrance exam scheme for medical courses called the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Text (NEET), which is now a certainty from 2013-14. This had generated more curiosity about the government's stance over the JEE for engineering.
The HRD ministry is introducing the national JEE from AY 2013-14 for centrally-funded technical institutions like the IITs, IIITs, NITs, among others, after the IIT council gave its final approval to a revised JEE scheme at its meeting held on June 27.
The scheme envisages a two-stage exam, i.e. JEE-Main and JEE-Advanced. The latter is to be conducted after JEE-Main with a suitable time gap. Only the top 1,50,000 candidates (including all categories) in JEE-Main will qualify to appear in the JEE Advanced examination. Admissions to IITs will be based only on category-wise all-India rank in JEE Advanced, subject to the condition that such candidates are in the top 20 percentile of successful candidates of their boards in applicable categories.
The ministry had left it to the state governments concerned to take a call on the relative weightage to performance in the HSC board exam and the national JEE for admissions to unaided engineering colleges and also to convey their position on joining the JEE scheme. The Maharashtra government had since appointed a committee under the principal secretary to the higher and technical education (H&TE) department, to collect feedback from students, parents, institutions and teachers and give its recommendations on the relative weightage and other connected issues.
"The committee has submitted its report, which is now being tabled before the state cabinet for its approval. The chief minister is also being apprised about the department's view on the issues linked to the national JEE," said Tope.
"We are proposing a 50:50 relative weightage with a view that the importance of attendance of Std XII classes at junior colleges cannot be overlooked. In the last few years, the attendance has fallen to an alarmingly low level due to increased focus on studies at private coaching and individual tuition classes. Students often miss out on the crucial exposure to application-based activities such as laboratory practicals at colleges," he said.
On the implementation of recommendations by the three committees appointed by the states for reforms in higher education, Tope said that the implementation process will begin in a week's time now that the government has received the Kumud Bansal panel report that has laid down a road map for the reforms.
"We want to ensure that students from Maharashtra get adequate time to fully prepare for JEE," he said. "Joining the exam from 2013-14 will provide very little time for those students who are currently in Std XII, to prepare for the JEE, which will be based on the new curriculum for Stds XI and XII," he said. "What we have ensured, for now, is that the revised curriculum textbooks are available in the market for students to start their studies," he added.
Tope also said the government is proposing a 50:50 relative weightage to performance in the higher secondary certificate (HSC, Std XII) board exam and in the national JEE, for admissions to the larger section of unaided engineering colleges in the state, following the adoption of JEE by the state.
The state's final decision on when to join the national JEE and on the relative weightage issue will take some time to come through. The two issues will now be referred to the state cabinet for its approval, said Tope. On Thursday, the state government had approved the all-India single entrance exam scheme for medical courses called the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Text (NEET), which is now a certainty from 2013-14. This had generated more curiosity about the government's stance over the JEE for engineering.
The HRD ministry is introducing the national JEE from AY 2013-14 for centrally-funded technical institutions like the IITs, IIITs, NITs, among others, after the IIT council gave its final approval to a revised JEE scheme at its meeting held on June 27.
The scheme envisages a two-stage exam, i.e. JEE-Main and JEE-Advanced. The latter is to be conducted after JEE-Main with a suitable time gap. Only the top 1,50,000 candidates (including all categories) in JEE-Main will qualify to appear in the JEE Advanced examination. Admissions to IITs will be based only on category-wise all-India rank in JEE Advanced, subject to the condition that such candidates are in the top 20 percentile of successful candidates of their boards in applicable categories.
The ministry had left it to the state governments concerned to take a call on the relative weightage to performance in the HSC board exam and the national JEE for admissions to unaided engineering colleges and also to convey their position on joining the JEE scheme. The Maharashtra government had since appointed a committee under the principal secretary to the higher and technical education (H&TE) department, to collect feedback from students, parents, institutions and teachers and give its recommendations on the relative weightage and other connected issues.
"The committee has submitted its report, which is now being tabled before the state cabinet for its approval. The chief minister is also being apprised about the department's view on the issues linked to the national JEE," said Tope.
"We are proposing a 50:50 relative weightage with a view that the importance of attendance of Std XII classes at junior colleges cannot be overlooked. In the last few years, the attendance has fallen to an alarmingly low level due to increased focus on studies at private coaching and individual tuition classes. Students often miss out on the crucial exposure to application-based activities such as laboratory practicals at colleges," he said.
On the implementation of recommendations by the three committees appointed by the states for reforms in higher education, Tope said that the implementation process will begin in a week's time now that the government has received the Kumud Bansal panel report that has laid down a road map for the reforms.
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