Students files petition against CBSE JEE normalisation procedure

A large number of students from across the country, have joined and signed the petition opposing the normalisation process introduced in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

The petition has been filed against the formula used in the admission process for all National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and other central government technical educational institutions.

The JEE (Main) Apex Board announced that they will take JEE Main and Intermediate marks in 60:40 ratio giving 40 per cent weightage.

The students said candidates, who had performed well in Intermediate only, got better ranks. JEE Main marks had less impact on ranking.

The petitioner, Khitij Grag who has launched an online petition against the move, in his online petition has alleged that the problem lies with the second component.

In the normalisation formula, 50 per cent board marks will be normalised by equating percentiles among different boards and anchoring them to the main all India JEE percentile.

"However, what CBSE is doing without thought is taking the percentile from Board exams and equating it to the percentiles in the JEE Written Exams to calculate corresponding marks. This formula came out in May 2013 after the conduct of both the exams, so students had no clue that they would be at such a ridiculous disadvantage," he alleged.

Students from other boards are concerned that this process could result in a student with a high JEE (Main) score and a slightly lower score in their boards, to get a much lower rank than a student securing higher board marks and lesser JEE (mains) marks.

"How can you (CBSE) decide the policy after the game is over? We demand an immediate stay order on this result and a new formula for normalisation and new rankings with justice to the students," he said.

Supreme Court is likely to take up a case on Thursday.