The entrance exam to
the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has never had so many candidates who
cracked the gruelling exam on the first attempt: 88% candidates qualified in
the first shot this year.
Last year, 69.6% of aspirants qualified after taking the IIT-JEE (advanced) for the first time. Another 27.2% had to take the test again before they could walk past the gates of the IITs. This year, merely 12% students qualified after taking the exam for the second time. Since the last two years, the IITs have only allowed candidates two attempts.
"We are realizing that by restricting the number of attempts, the IITs are getting students who are very well-trained. I am not sure if it is putting more pressure on students, but students are a lot better prepared," says an IIT director. Slicing the statistics further shows that of the 9,795 students currently sitting in the first-year classrooms across IITs, the count of those who cracked the JEE (advanced) in the first attempt stands at 6,725 (68.65%).
Data till 2007 shows about 10% of the total aspirants were taking the JEE for the third time (or more). But with more students taking the test seriously, JEE-2006 saw the share fall as 43.5% candidates qualified in their first try, as compared to JEE-2005 in which only 28.49% got through the first time around.
In fact, a dean from IIT-Madras believes these statistics are a result of the changing profile of those who are making it to the IITs. "Students who are now walking into the IITs are mostly from cities and from middle-class households who can afford to pay for tuitions," he says.
Most of those who qualified—20,636 or 76%—are from urban centres, 3,862 (14.22%) are from towns, and 2,654 (9.77%) are from villages. Again, making for a sharp economic divide on campus, two large cohorts of students in the current batch in the IITs are from the upper-middle classes and from the lower-income groups.
This year, 3,586 or 13.2% who qualified disclosed that the annual family income is over Rs 8 lakh. Three years ago, data released by the colleges revealed that about 9.3% of the qualified candidates had an annual family income of over Rs 10 lakh.
Equally stunning is the jump of students with family income of less than Rs 1 lakh: from just 1.5% three years ago to 18.6% this time. But IITs are a melting pot where differences vanish in class, said another IIT director. "What has also happened is that the Sixth Pay Commission has had a bearing on many government employees' salaries and, hence, we have many more students in the higher pay bracket," explains an IIT-Madras dean.
Like last year, most students came from homes where parents were in government service, followed by those from a business background. Yet, most candidates who qualified declared that they did not attend a coaching class to get a leg-up in their performance. Information collected by the tech colleges reveals that close to half of those who make their mark in the entrance test prepare for the exam on their own.
The IITs ask every student who takes the JEE whether he/she prepared for the test "on his own or via other methods", and add that their selection would be based on the marks they have scored, irrespective of their preparation method.
Data provided by candidates shows that about 53% students said they studied on their own. Their share has altered over the years. Data analyzed by the JEE cell reveals that while 60% of the students who made it to the seven old IITs in 2007 opted for some form of coaching, in 2008, this figure dropped to 45%.
Last year, 69.6% of aspirants qualified after taking the IIT-JEE (advanced) for the first time. Another 27.2% had to take the test again before they could walk past the gates of the IITs. This year, merely 12% students qualified after taking the exam for the second time. Since the last two years, the IITs have only allowed candidates two attempts.
"We are realizing that by restricting the number of attempts, the IITs are getting students who are very well-trained. I am not sure if it is putting more pressure on students, but students are a lot better prepared," says an IIT director. Slicing the statistics further shows that of the 9,795 students currently sitting in the first-year classrooms across IITs, the count of those who cracked the JEE (advanced) in the first attempt stands at 6,725 (68.65%).
Data till 2007 shows about 10% of the total aspirants were taking the JEE for the third time (or more). But with more students taking the test seriously, JEE-2006 saw the share fall as 43.5% candidates qualified in their first try, as compared to JEE-2005 in which only 28.49% got through the first time around.
In fact, a dean from IIT-Madras believes these statistics are a result of the changing profile of those who are making it to the IITs. "Students who are now walking into the IITs are mostly from cities and from middle-class households who can afford to pay for tuitions," he says.
Most of those who qualified—20,636 or 76%—are from urban centres, 3,862 (14.22%) are from towns, and 2,654 (9.77%) are from villages. Again, making for a sharp economic divide on campus, two large cohorts of students in the current batch in the IITs are from the upper-middle classes and from the lower-income groups.
This year, 3,586 or 13.2% who qualified disclosed that the annual family income is over Rs 8 lakh. Three years ago, data released by the colleges revealed that about 9.3% of the qualified candidates had an annual family income of over Rs 10 lakh.
Equally stunning is the jump of students with family income of less than Rs 1 lakh: from just 1.5% three years ago to 18.6% this time. But IITs are a melting pot where differences vanish in class, said another IIT director. "What has also happened is that the Sixth Pay Commission has had a bearing on many government employees' salaries and, hence, we have many more students in the higher pay bracket," explains an IIT-Madras dean.
Like last year, most students came from homes where parents were in government service, followed by those from a business background. Yet, most candidates who qualified declared that they did not attend a coaching class to get a leg-up in their performance. Information collected by the tech colleges reveals that close to half of those who make their mark in the entrance test prepare for the exam on their own.
The IITs ask every student who takes the JEE whether he/she prepared for the test "on his own or via other methods", and add that their selection would be based on the marks they have scored, irrespective of their preparation method.
Data provided by candidates shows that about 53% students said they studied on their own. Their share has altered over the years. Data analyzed by the JEE cell reveals that while 60% of the students who made it to the seven old IITs in 2007 opted for some form of coaching, in 2008, this figure dropped to 45%.
Times of India: 2nd
sep, 2014
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