Big jump in South students getting IIT admissions

Bihar, Maharashtra and Gujarat also sent more students to the premier tech schools this year

 The number of students from the  southern states qualifying for admission to the premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) had increased in the last one year compared to their northern counterparts, with the exception of Bihar, Maharashtra and Gujarat. 

A comparative analysis of the data compiled by IIT-Kharagpur and IIT-Delhi on JEE (Joint Entrance Examination)-Advance 2014 and 2013 respectively, indicates that the number of students from Karnataka who qualified in the nationwide test was almost double (47.95 per cent) this year, compared to last year. Kerala saw an increase of  61 per cent this year.

As many as 506 students from Karnataka qualified in JEE-Advance in 2014 as against 342 last year. From Kerala, a total of 475 candidates figured in the merit list this year against 295 last year. 

Andhra Pradesh, from where the highest number of candidates (4,975) qualified this year, witnessed an increase in the number of students making it to the all-India merit list by 34.53 per cent. Last year, a total of 3,698 students had qualified from the state. 

Tamil Nadu too witnessed an increase in the number of students qualifying this year. As many as 603 students from the state figured in the list of successful candidates, against 450  last year.

The IITs admitted 9,784 students, out of a total 27,152 candidates who figured in the all-India merit list, after three rounds of counselling. In its report, however, IIT Kharagpur, the convenor of JEE-Advance this year, did not give state-wise statistics on the number of students admitted to the 16 premier technical institutes.

“There has been an increase in the number of students appearing and qualifying in JEE-Advance from southern states over the years. It is difficult to comment on the exact reasons but, I think, it is the impact of the coaching institutes in Hyderabad,” former director of IIT-Guwahati Gautam Barua told Deccan Herald.

According to the report, Bihar is second among states in terms of increase in the number of students qualifying this year. The state, from where 1,509 students qualified in JEE-Advance last year, saw 50 per cent increase in the successful candidates this year with 1,735 students making it to the merit list.

The IIT report also indicated a significant increase in the number of students qualifying  from Gujarat and Maharashtra this year. As many as 672 students qualified from Gujarat against 450 last year, an increase of 59.61 per cent. From Maharashtra, as many as 2,313 qualified against 1,557 last year - a 48.55 per cent jump.

From Rajasthan, as many as 4,292 students qualified this year. The percentage increase in the  number of successful students, however, remained at 18.20 per cent. 

Last year, the state saw 3,631 students making it to the all-India merit list. 

 JEE-Advanced, 2014, was conducted under seven zonal IITs in 364 centres in 98 cities across the country, besides one centre in Dubai, on May 25. Over 1.19 lakh candidates took the test.

“There has been a significant increase in the number of candidates who qualified in JEE- Advanced, 2014. This increase is from 20,834 in 2013 to 27,152 in 2014,” the report said.