A testing time for India’s exams

Mumbai: India’s Human Resources Minister Kapil Sibal finds himself on the back foot over a controversial plan to standardise examinations — the so called “one nation one test” proposal — for the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs).

Through his decision to scrap the existing IIT Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), Sibal has drawn criticism from IITs, he has shown a willingness to address concerns, commenting in Washington on Tuesday that the IIT council should be permitted to set the new exams.

But the aggrieved institutions now say he has gone too far, charging him with “infringing”on their autonomy. Senators of the influential IITs of Kanpur, Delhi and Bombay are loudly opposing a Common Entrance Test (CET) for all IITs, NITs and IIITs from 2013. They have taken a stand that the CET would increase stress among students seeking admissions to IITs.
The IITs opposing the new exam pattern approved by the IIT Council, at its meeting chaired by Sibal on May 28, have not taken kindly to the introduction of two sets of examinations — the main and advanced exams — on the same day.

Universities

“While the main exam is like the existing All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) held for admissions to NITs, IIITs, deemed Universities, technical institutions, Delhi Technological University, Delhi and other Government funded Institutions across the country, the advanced exam is tougher than the current IIT-JEE,” says a senior faculty member from IIT-Bombay.

As many as 1.2 million students appeared for AIEEE examination this year, while 520,000 students appeared for the IIT-JEE entrance exam for nearly 10,000 seats in 16 IITs held on April 8.

“In essence, the students will henceforth come under marked strain as they will have to prepare for two sets of examinations from 2013 onwards. The features like 50 per cent weightage to the 12th standard marks and the need for their figuring in the 50,000 short-listed students would also have a bearing on their chances to landing a seat in the IIT,” adds the faculty member.

Though four IIT senates –Kharagpur, Madras, Guwahati and Roorkie — supported the new exam pattern, the All India IIT Faculty Federation (AIIITFF) has come out in support of the stand against Sibal’s move taken by IITs of Kanpur, Delhi and Bombay (the latter two are meeting later this week to formalise their stand).

The AIIITFF, which is a national body of IIT teachers that is leading the crusade against the new IIT exam pattern, has said that the CET proposal is against the IIT Act, 1961 — a legislation that states the Senate — comprising among others professors — “shall have the control, general regulation, be responsible for the maintenance of standards of instruction, education and examination in the institute.”

Analysts say that IIT Council, chaired by Sibal, does not have powers under the IIT Act, 1961 to introduce a change in the examination pattern as it has done. “If the affected IITs decide to challenge the new exam pattern in the Supreme Court, there are strong chances that we will win our way,” says an AIIITFF representative.

The AIIITF has in the interim sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention to roll back the HRD ministry’s “unilateral decision” that “infringes on the autonomy of the IITs”. Its representatives are planning to meet the Prime Minister later this week.

The 210-member of IIT-Kanpur senate, which was the first institution to raise the banner of revolt against the HRD ministry’s decision, adopted a formal resolution on June 8, opposing the new exam pattern, saying that the decision was “academically and methodically unsound and in violation of the IIT Act” and authorising its chairman to constitute a committee with the help of the dean of academic affairs for conducting “JEE 2013 by IIT Kanpur”.

With some of the IITs like Kanpur and AIIITF mounting pressure on him to re-consider his decision, the HRD minister said on Monday that the UPA government had no plans of “impinging” on the autonomy of IITs.

Currently away in the United States, Sibal claimed that the new exam pattern decision was taken in accordance with the IIT Act. “There is no intent to impact on the IIT system autonomy....The exam that is being contemplated is to be set by the IIT itself,” Sibal told media persons in Washington on Monday evening.

Sibal, who is leading a high-powered Indian delegation to co-chair the India-US education dialogue with the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, claimed that the IIT Council had decided on the new exam pattern, without any dissent being expressed members present. “On my return, I would examine the decision taken by the IIT-Kanpur,” the minister said.

Given the growing opposition to his proposal from the IITs, it will not be easy for Sibal to push through his “one nation, one test” proposal.