Suck the joker ....
It seems that they are not going to leave the Joker alone. To steal the headline from Primary Red, the HRD is going to Sissfy the IITS by making IIT-JEE simpler.
What to say about the intelligence of the non-capitalists... IIT and IIT-JEE have evolved since 80's (assuming that’s when some of the blogger's are posting from). Number of people giving the exam has increased tremendously (thanks to the amazing success of the same 80's batches and many more). The Students are preparing even harder, under some excellent supervision, with help of text books and course materials which leave next to nothing to intelligence. This, no doubt, is leading to higher cut-offs every year. The difference between rank 1 and rank 4000 is not more than around 100 marks, which means that every year, atleast last 2500 ranks go for a lottery. Those who have given JEE will swear how fortunes change within those 6 hours…. And how they could have improved their rank so far (depending on your rank) by doing that one bit extra. I can't imagine what will happen if we make the test any simpler, if it will not make the competition even tougher and an even bigger lottery.
I don’t think JEE is the part of the problem (it definetly is a part of the solution though…). Not so long ago, I gave the JEE twice (cleared it twice), and honestly speaking got a much better rank when I studied less to nothing. The JEE is based on +2 syllabus, and is at the basic minimum required level for kids who want expedite learning within IIT curriculum. The pressure is for those who want to build it, and those who don’t simply get a rank. Nevertheless, to decrease pressure on the kids, we will have to make students and parents conscious of alternate career choices. Those who have been through the IIT drill, know that one JEE rank, or for that matter having a rank, does not define ones career. Four years spent amongst the best batch mates possible, some funny post-grad exams, silly interviews, fun we had , and fun we didn’t have … define what we become and where we end up… and we all know that most of the IITians never do what they were trained for ….
I think we need to pass on this message to the kids that there are more ways than one to succeed. And to the government, that there should be more institutions like IITs (and not 100 IITs).
What to say about the intelligence of the non-capitalists... IIT and IIT-JEE have evolved since 80's (assuming that’s when some of the blogger's are posting from). Number of people giving the exam has increased tremendously (thanks to the amazing success of the same 80's batches and many more). The Students are preparing even harder, under some excellent supervision, with help of text books and course materials which leave next to nothing to intelligence. This, no doubt, is leading to higher cut-offs every year. The difference between rank 1 and rank 4000 is not more than around 100 marks, which means that every year, atleast last 2500 ranks go for a lottery. Those who have given JEE will swear how fortunes change within those 6 hours…. And how they could have improved their rank so far (depending on your rank) by doing that one bit extra. I can't imagine what will happen if we make the test any simpler, if it will not make the competition even tougher and an even bigger lottery.
I don’t think JEE is the part of the problem (it definetly is a part of the solution though…). Not so long ago, I gave the JEE twice (cleared it twice), and honestly speaking got a much better rank when I studied less to nothing. The JEE is based on +2 syllabus, and is at the basic minimum required level for kids who want expedite learning within IIT curriculum. The pressure is for those who want to build it, and those who don’t simply get a rank. Nevertheless, to decrease pressure on the kids, we will have to make students and parents conscious of alternate career choices. Those who have been through the IIT drill, know that one JEE rank, or for that matter having a rank, does not define ones career. Four years spent amongst the best batch mates possible, some funny post-grad exams, silly interviews, fun we had , and fun we didn’t have … define what we become and where we end up… and we all know that most of the IITians never do what they were trained for ….
I think we need to pass on this message to the kids that there are more ways than one to succeed. And to the government, that there should be more institutions like IITs (and not 100 IITs).
posted by Ash at 1:13 AM
2 Comments:
You confuse me a bit. First you say that there is hardly much of a difference between the 1st and 4000th ranker in IIT-JEE. Then you go on to say that it would be a bigger lottery if made simple. I believe that if the competition has really got to such stiff levels so as to prevent some of the capable candidates' entry, it makes sense to make it a bigger lottery. Who knows it may throw up some real gems.
well... to start with this blogger is a romantic and a capitalist. I will never subside with any idea to dilute an experience which has now come to define me. No matter how much I rattle otherwise, I like the system as is (was) and would hate to see that change.
Indeed there is hardly a difference between marks and ranks... but never underestimate those 100 marks. I can say from my experience that there are definite classes of IITians... and you can very easily recognize that people in these classes may have different ranks but they have similar capabilities. In my batch (3000 JEE ranks), Top 20 was a gang in its own, you can't match their genius, and cannot defile them ... the rest fall in following intervals: 20-100 ... 100-250... 250-500 ... 500-1200 ... 1200-2000 ... 2000+
Now you can make out two things.
a) I can bet each group has around the same bandwidth of marks (15-17)....
b) that 1-1200 is a good lot ... no matter what you do to JEE these guys will always make it through.
I was surprised when I was told that the distribution of rank is done through a software which tags different ranks for people with same score based on a few student profile parameters and a RANDOM SEED !!. Its only a matter of these last 1800 odd people who compete with atleast 3000 more to get a rank. Now this is a lottery between these 5000 people... and the question is who do you want to win … merit … or luck (money or likewise).
If we make JEE any simpler, the confusion in the first 5 classes will increase and distinction will decrease.... and they may get merge with the latter classes…. and there is a risk that this is made of just about anyone. It is a bad idea for more than just one reason:
1. As I gather, competitive exams (CAT, Civil services, JEE etc) at college level segregates people of different caliber. These people can then be used in different roles to maximize their and state’s productivity. If we let this segregation be done as a lottery, we will never know who we are chosing to lead and who we are following. System of merit is based on a desire to minimize risks in decision making.
2. Mixing people of different aptitude is no good to anyone. A teacher will never be able to do justice to the smarter or the not so smart lot. And if you feel that it won’t make a difference in IIT…. just sit through any class.
3. You are not helping a kid if his performance or hard work does not measure upto his results (which is the root of the current discussion). If the exam is tough, he will find his faults and try to correct them, but if he doesn’t …. He might just become a rebel…. And I bet you don’t want to do this with the smarter ones (read “5 point someone” to compare notes).
In short… are we addressing the real problems… or creating more of them.
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