The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Union government have finally agreed to the new format of IIT entrance examination as suggested by the Joint Admission Board (JAB). The new format of exams will be implemented from 2013.

Under the new format of entrance exams for IIT adopted on June 27, aspirants will first have to appear for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE)-Main . Only the top 1,50,000 students of JEE will then be eligible to take the JEE-Advanced exam. The top-ranked candidates who clear this exam will finally be eligible for around 9,000 seats at the IITs. However, the final selection of candidates will be based on the JEE-Advanced scores, subject to condition that they are in the top 20 percentile in their board exams as well.

So, even though class XII board marks won't be added to the JEE-Advanced marks, it would be an eligibility criterion. As of now, students scoring 60% in their board exams are eligible to apply to the IITs.

According to RK Shevgaonkar, director, IIT-Delhi , the aim of the new format is to make students perform well in their board exams without neglecting it and not get influenced by the coaching classes offering tutorials for IIT-JEE .

However, according to Sanjay Kumar from IIT-JEE coaching institute in Noida , the new format will only add more pressure on students. He says, "The whole idea of one nation, one exam has actually resulted in three separate exams for students. This means double pressure to first perform well in the board exams and then perform brilliantly again in two JEE exams."

Kunal Purohit, an IIT aspirant, feels any student who is aiming for a seat in the top institute of the country needs to be intelligent. And any intelligent student won't have to struggle to be in the top 20 percentile. "As far as the preparation of JEE is concerned, it will be similar to how students prepared for it earlier . The party who will be losing out, will be the coaching institutes that charge heavily for IIT coaching," he says.

Vineet Joshi, chairman, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on the new format of IIT entrance examination

Students who aspire for a seat in IIT and prepare for it in advance generally perform well in their board exams. However, there are many students who aim for IIT and neglect their studies . These students don't perform well in board exams and find it hard to even clear the IIT entrance exams. The new format will make such students pay attention to their classroom study, which will eventually help them understand concepts in details. These students will also be able to get a seat in other professional colleges with the help of a good score in board exams Earlier, because board scores were not given any weighting, students paid little attention to classes and this led teachers to lose interest. The new move will help school teachers gain their respect back and help them upgrade themselves regularly Although it's too early to comment whether the coaching institutes will shut down or not, the move will certainly have an impact

Source: TOI

Read More About IITs, Indian Institute Of Technology, Delhi

The hallowed Oxford University has decided to allow the toppers of ISC and CBSE exams direct entry to its undergraduate courses from the academic session of 2013, a senior university official said.

The vice chancellor professor of Oxford, Andrew Hamilton in a press conference at IIT- Kharagpur on Friday expressed his happiness over the decision to allow toppers of India to have their undergraduate courses in Oxford University.

"We want to draw the best students from India to Oxford. It has been decided that we will accept Class XII examination results for all undergraduate courses at Oxford," said Hamilton.

Earlier, Indian students needed to appear for their A-levels, SATs or the International Baccalaureate as the criteria for getting admitted in the undergraduate courses at Oxford.

Under the new rule, the university will now make conditional offers of entrance to those students who acquire more than 90 percent in the CBSE and ISC exams. An Indian aspirant who opts for the science course in Oxford at the undergraduate level may also need to take the Indian IIT entrance examination.

Source: TOI

With their future in limbo, about 1,800 students of Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University have written to HRD minister Kapil Sibal urging the government to pass the legislation giving their institute legal sanctity. The 'Institutes of Technology (Amendment) bill 2011' has been pending before the Rajya Sabha for almost a year.

The students of 2010 and 2011 batches have been waiting for their degrees for a year now thanks to the legislative delay. "As the bill is getting delayed in the Rajya Sabha, it is creating serious problems for our future careers. The uncertainty over the conversion of IT-BHU to IIT-BHU is also creating an unhealthy academic atmosphere in the campus,'' the letter said. The communication has been signed by all the students.

The move to upgrade the institute to an IIT was done after several rounds of consultations and discussions with HRD ministry officials and was passed by Lok Sabha in March 2011.

The bill seeks to amend the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961, which declares certain institutes of technology to be institutions of national importance and add eight new IITs in Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Indore, Jodhpur, Mandi, Patna and Ropar. It also seeks to integrate the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University within the ambit of the Act and is likely to increase its functional autonomy.

Speaking in Lok Sabha, Sibal had assured agitated BJP members that Banaras Hindu University would not be bifurcated in the process of giving IIT status to its Institute of Technology. The legislation is also expected to address issues of shortage of staff and quality faculty.

Source: TOI