Centre refuses to drop weightage for Class XII marks in JEE

The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has refused to accept the recommendation of a committee for scarping the system of giving weightage to Class XII board examination scores in JEE-Main examination from 2016.

The 2016 JEE Main examination will be conducted in the same format as it has been conducted so far, the ministry said on Saturday.

“The government has decided to place the recommendations of the report in the public domain for widespread consultation with the stakeholders. Since this process would take some time, it was decided that the JEE 2016 shall be conducted in the same manner in 2015,” it said.

Besides, a total of 2 lakh candidates will be able to take JEE-Advance in 2016 as the ministry decided to enhance the number of candidates to be selected for the test, conducted for admission to the IITs and ISM. Till this year, the joint admission board of the IITs selected a total of 1.5 lakh students from the all-India merit list of JEE–Main for taking JEE-Advance.

The committee of eminent persons, headed by IIT Roorkee Director Ashok Misra, submitted its report to the ministry on November 5, recommending major changes in the JEE format, including single entrance for admission to technical institutes.

It has also suggested for setting up of a National Testing Service by early 2016 to conduct an Aptitude Test, on the lines of SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) conducted in the US, for selection of candidates for admissions.“The aptitude test may be offered two or more times in a year and would be an online test. The testing shall test the scientific thinking and cannot be gamed through coaching. Based on this performance, about 4 lakh candidates shall be shortlisted for taking the JEE,” the panel suggested. “The JEE itself will be on the lines of the current JEE (Advanced) ,” it added.