JEE Advanced in Online Mode from 2018; Bihar Students Seek PM Modi’s Intervention
- Students of Bihar have asked PM Modi to intervene in the dispute regarding conducting JEE Advanced in online mode.
- The students have stated that applicants who are not computer savvy will face difficulty in performing well in the online exam.
Students of Bihar have asked PM Narendra Modi to intervene in the matter regarding conducting JEE Advanced exam online from 2018. In a meeting of IIT Joint Admission Board (JAB) held on August 20, 2017, it was decided that JEE Advanced will be conducted only in online mode from 2018.
The decision was taken to enhance transparency and ease up the evaluation process. However, students from Bihar feel that many meritorious students from less progressive states and rural regions of the country will be at a disadvantage as they are not computer savvy.
The students also argued that the government must first ensure that all schools in such rural areas and underdeveloped regions must be provided with computers so that students can get used to them. They further added that exam must not be held online unless all students know how to use computers.
The students from the state have already voiced their disagreement to the Union HRD Minister and the Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar on September 8. They now seek PM Modi’s intervention in the matter to ensure their rights.
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Pankaj Kumar Kapadia of Bihar’s Rohtas district is a cloth merchant’s son and said that students from the rural regions are already struggling to overcome the English language barrier. Conducting the exam in online mode will increase the hurdles for them, he added. Kapadia was one of the Super-30 who got into IIT Delhi in 2006.
He gave the example of Rahul Kumar, son of a Muzaffarpur-based farmer and rickshaw puller and said that Rahul Kumar had never used a computer but made it to IIT Bombay in 2017 in his first attempt despite the language barrier. Conducting the exam in online mode will mean eliminating such students before they can appear for JEE Advanced, Kapadia added.
Also Read:IITs to do away with Multiple Choice Questions in JEE Advanced from 2018
Till 2017, students had the option to choose the mode of JEE exam (i.e. online or offline). This year only 1.65 lakh students out of a total of 11.86 lakh candidates appeared for JEE Mains in online mode, whereas, 9.56 lakh candidates appeared for the exam in offline mode.