Not enough quota students, IITs may restart preparatory course
The nightmare of the 1990s is here again. The Indian Institutes of
Technology (IITs) will open their classrooms for special coaching for
reserved category students who fail to make the grade this year despite a
substantial lowering of the cut-off for them.
The reason the IITs will be forced to restart the yearlong preparatory course is that there may not be enough students to fill the reserved category seats.
A smaller pool of candidates this year contributed to an inadequate number that made the cut. That will force the elite engineering colleges to not only lower their cut-offs but also re-start the preparatory course. The possibility of the IITs falling short of quota students was reported by TOI when the JEE Main results were declared on May 7.
"Although we are at the stage of certificate verification and everything currently is provisional, I think we might have to conduct a preparatory course this year," said JEE (Advanced) chairman H C Gupta.
For quota students who fall short of the mark, the IITs generously reduce cut-offs and conduct special coaching for them for a year. The arrangement started in the mid-90s after the IITs wrote to the government for permission to run a year-long preparatory course, a bridge programme to help quota students lagging behind in the JEE race.
Each year, the IITs provide concessions to reserved category students. They lower entry levels for them, going as low as 50% below the last general category student's marks to do justice to the quota. But to reach the colleges' full capacity, scores are relaxed once again and students are selected to be coached in maths, physics and chemistry for a year before they can join the IITs after clearing an internal test.
Arrayed against the previous five years, there may not be enough students this year to fill the seats meant for reserved category students. Last year, there were more than twice the number of SC and OBC candidates who took the JEE.
In 2012, for the first time the elite technology schools did not hold any preparatory course for scheduled tribe candidates. Also, for the third consecutive year in 2012, no scheduled caste candidates had to spend a year doing the bridge course. More students qualified than the number of seats available. Merely four seats remained unfilled, because these students did not get the stream of their choice.
"But this year, the IITs had a smaller pool to pick from," said an IIT director. "There are wide variations we saw in the reserved category candidates, especially among the scheduled tribes. Some do very well and then there is a huge drop."
A total of 1,15,971 candidates, as against the 1.26 lakh who had registered, sat for the exam. Data provided by IIT-Delhi, which is in-charge of conducting the JEE (Advanced) shows that 51,170 general category students and 47,085 OBC candidates registered for the exam.
Preparatory course
* The preparatory course is a yearlong special coaching programme for reserved category candidates who fail to make the cut in the entrance.
* It helps quota students lagging behind in the JEE race to bridge the gap with others ahead of them. . * These students have to qualify for the IITs by clearing an internal exam at the end of the course.
The reason the IITs will be forced to restart the yearlong preparatory course is that there may not be enough students to fill the reserved category seats.
A smaller pool of candidates this year contributed to an inadequate number that made the cut. That will force the elite engineering colleges to not only lower their cut-offs but also re-start the preparatory course. The possibility of the IITs falling short of quota students was reported by TOI when the JEE Main results were declared on May 7.
"Although we are at the stage of certificate verification and everything currently is provisional, I think we might have to conduct a preparatory course this year," said JEE (Advanced) chairman H C Gupta.
For quota students who fall short of the mark, the IITs generously reduce cut-offs and conduct special coaching for them for a year. The arrangement started in the mid-90s after the IITs wrote to the government for permission to run a year-long preparatory course, a bridge programme to help quota students lagging behind in the JEE race.
Each year, the IITs provide concessions to reserved category students. They lower entry levels for them, going as low as 50% below the last general category student's marks to do justice to the quota. But to reach the colleges' full capacity, scores are relaxed once again and students are selected to be coached in maths, physics and chemistry for a year before they can join the IITs after clearing an internal test.
Arrayed against the previous five years, there may not be enough students this year to fill the seats meant for reserved category students. Last year, there were more than twice the number of SC and OBC candidates who took the JEE.
In 2012, for the first time the elite technology schools did not hold any preparatory course for scheduled tribe candidates. Also, for the third consecutive year in 2012, no scheduled caste candidates had to spend a year doing the bridge course. More students qualified than the number of seats available. Merely four seats remained unfilled, because these students did not get the stream of their choice.
"But this year, the IITs had a smaller pool to pick from," said an IIT director. "There are wide variations we saw in the reserved category candidates, especially among the scheduled tribes. Some do very well and then there is a huge drop."
A total of 1,15,971 candidates, as against the 1.26 lakh who had registered, sat for the exam. Data provided by IIT-Delhi, which is in-charge of conducting the JEE (Advanced) shows that 51,170 general category students and 47,085 OBC candidates registered for the exam.
Preparatory course
* The preparatory course is a yearlong special coaching programme for reserved category candidates who fail to make the cut in the entrance.
* It helps quota students lagging behind in the JEE race to bridge the gap with others ahead of them. . * These students have to qualify for the IITs by clearing an internal exam at the end of the course.
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