Comp-based Jee Hits Hurdle With No Archived Question Bank
With two major entrance tests-the Common Admission Test and the All India Engineering
Entrance Exam-graduating to the computer mode, it was only a matter of time before the Joint Admission Board, which comprises all the JEE chairmen, decided to follow suit. This gruelling entrance exam will eventually become computer-based, but there's a glitch that will slow down the process: the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) did not archive their old question papers."We discussed that issue (computer-based exams) when we met this year, but the problem is that we don't have a ready question bank. If the JEE has to be taken on computers, then we need a huge data bank of questions that are of a constant difficulty level. What has slowed down our process is that we have destroyed our old question papers," said a member of the Joint Admission Board.
But with the number of IIT aspirants spiralling, JAB members said that it would take the tech schools around three years to develop a question bank before the JEE could be offered on computers.
In 2008, when the Indian Institutes of Management announced their decision to offer the computer-based CAT, some IIT heads had expressed apprehensions over the move, and stated that they would not be able to do the same as the JEE is also conducted in Singapore, and time differences would hit the testing process.
But with separate question papers for every student, the JAB now feels that the entrance test can be held on computers. And will it be outsourced? "We have the technical know-how. If the numbers are too large, we may look for a partner who can get the logistics in place. But it's a question that can be answered only by the JAB of the year we move away from the paper-pencil test," added a faculty member.
by: admissioncorner