Increase number of attempts for JEE Advanced: Supreme Court lawyer writes to Education Ministry

After the Supreme Court dismissed the review petition filed by opposition parties against the verdict to conduct the JEE Main and NEET exams, advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava has written a letter to the Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal to increase the number of attempts for JEE Advanced. Currently, a candidate is allowed two attempts at the exam. This, he said, would provide a level-playing field to students from rural areas or poor families.

“The present system for admission to undergraduate programmes of IITs discriminates against underprivileged students, by not providing them level-playing field. It seems to be highly supportive of the privileged students who can afford heft fee of quality schooling and coaching institutes,” the letter read.

https://twitter.com/advocate_alakh/status/1301792119405727745

Only students who clear the JEE Main and are ranked in the top 2-2.5 lakh are eligible to appear for JEE Advanced. “Candidates get 6 attempts – two attempts, January and April, each year for three consecutive years for JEE Main while for JEE Advanced only two attempts are allowed as per rules. “Even after qualifying JEE Main with top ranks in their third attempt, students are not permitted to appear in JEE Advanced. This is unjust, particularly to underprivileged and rural students.” the letter read.

Stating that earlier, there was no restriction on the number of attempts for JEE Advanced (then known as IIT JEE) and for admissions to medical colleges in India done through NEET 2020 too candidates get three attempts, the letter states, “the first solution lies in increasing the number of attempts for JEE advance to three (same as for JEE Main per year).”

“Most of the underprivileged and rural students, who do not get the advantage of coaching institutes or quality schooling, are not able to concentrate on JEE Advanced preparation in the first attempt,” the letter claims. For such students, “the second attempt is the first and last attempt,” it added.

CLAT 2020 now in September, check new dates

 The Consortium of National Law Universities will hold the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2020 on September 7. It was scheduled to be conducted in May and has been postponed several times since then due to the coronavirus pandemic. Last year, the CLAT was held on May 26 and the result was announced in June.

Recently, it was scheduled to be held in August and last week the same was postponed till further notice. As per the latest notice by the authorities, the exam will now be held on September 7.

CLAT is an entrance-level exam for admission to undergraduate and postgraduate law courses. It is a national level exam and also a gateway to National Law Universities (NLUs). Every year, thousands of students appear for the exam. The NLUs were also mulling the option of holding the exam from home in a proctor-based mode, however, no final decision on it is out yet. The case was in court.

Other undergraduate-level law entrance exams include the All India Law Entrance Test (AILET), LSAT India, ULSAT by UPES and Banaras Hindu University (BHU) conducts UET. Due to the pandemic, the LSAT India has been moved online.

CLAT is a two-hour exam where candidates are to solve 150 questions. Those who score at least 40 per cent marks are considered to be pass in the exam and eligible for admission to undergraduate and postgraduate level courses. For reserved category candidates, the cut-off is 35 per cent, as per rules.

The pandemic has shifted the entire academic cycle. While classes for schools are being held digitally the new session for colleges is yet to begin. Admissions and entrance -exams across streams are put at a halt due to the pandemic.

Delhi Govt Schools Will Have Freedom to Choose CBSE, ICSE Boards, Says Manish Sisodia

Following the recommendations of the National Education Policy, recently released by the education ministry, Delhi school education is up for big changes, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said. By next year, Delhi will get its own education board, the minister said. However, the Board will not be an imposition on government schools. 

Giving details of plans for setting up the state education board, Sisodia said the board will be in sync with the reforms proposed in the new National Education Policy (NEP) and the focus will be on continuous evaluation and not year-end exams. Also Read - 'His Decision Against Govt's Guidelines', Sisodia Writes to HM After L-G Turns Down AAP's Unlock 3 Move

“We have recently set up two committees for working on the proposed board as well as curriculum reforms. An ideal situation would be that we make it operational by next year. Initially, around 40 schools will be affiliated to the board, which could be either government or private,” Sisodia told PTI in an interview. 

“What happens in other state boards is that the private schools are free to make their choice whether they want to opt for CBSE, ICSE or state board, while government schools follow the state board. We will have no imposition. It will be optional for both government and private schools. We want to make the board so enriching and useful, that there is a demand for it,” he added.

The Delhi government had last month constituted two committees to prepare the scheme and framework for the formation of the state education Board and curriculum reforms.

The AAP dispensation had announced the plan to set up a separate board of education for the national capital in its annual budget in March.

Sisodia, who is also Delhi’s Education Minister, said his government is studying the recently announced new education policy in detail.

“We are studying the policy in detail. We have already been working on some of the reforms proposed in it. There are a few anomalies but there are a few good things too. I have told the two committees that our board will be in sync with the NEP because as a nation we are together but the focus will not be on evaluating students once a year and encouraging rote learning in the process,” he said.

(With PTI Inputs)