The Joint Admission Board of the Indian Institutes of Technology has turned down a proposal to allow those candidates who had exhausted their two attempts for the Joint Entrance Examination (advanced) this year to appear for a third time. JEE(advanced) is the entrance test for admissions into IITs and the National Institutes of Technology and students who pass board examinations with marks above 75 % and are among the top 20 percentile scorers in JEE (main) are qualified to take the examination. Their attempt however is limited to only two attempts even though engineering aspirants are permitted three attempts for JEE (main).
A number of students, who had exhausted their attempts this year, have been requesting the Union education ministry and IITs to give them another chance next year. As per the students, an extra attempt should be allowed to them as their preparation had been hit due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown imposed in March. In a latest letter written, addressed to all the IITs, students had said that JEE (advanced) is a "career-defining" exam and, therefore, those who performed poorly because of the mental stress due to the pandemic and the lockdown should be allowed another attempt next year. The IITs, however, have not agreed with the students and said in a JAB meeting recently that this would result in disadvantage to the new aspirants next year who are eligible for the test as per existing criteria. Every year about 3-4 lakh students qualify for JEE (advanced). Giving an extra chance to students will raise the number by about a lakh, said some IIT directors. Sources in the ministry however said that a final decision on the matter could be taken later.
The development comes even as the National Testing Agency has hinted that the first round of JEE (main), 2021 could be pushed by over a month, owing to the persistent rise in the number of Covid-19 cases across the country. The first round of the test this year was held in January. Officials said that the unprecedented delay in the current academic session which has meant that engineering admission are still underway for 2020-21, also means that the delay will spill over next year. An official notification, along with a probable timeline for the tests next year, however, is still awaited.
