Engineering aspirants might be able to take the JEE Main exam three times a year instead of the current pattern of only one entrance test yearly.
Students aspiring to study engineering at the top engineering colleges are likely to get multiple opportunities in a single year to crack the tough entrance exam.
The National Testing Service (NTS), a new overarching agency that the government announced in its annual budget this February to conduct all entrance exams for higher education institutions, might hold the JEE Main fully online from the next academic session.
The new format will allow the NTS to hold the engineering test at least thrice a year.
The move will significantly shorten an aspirant's waiting time for the next test in case of nonperformance to clear the first attempt at the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) main - conducted for admission to NITs, IITs, and other centrally funded institutions.
Through this change, the student would not have to spend a full long year studying for the test again.
In the present academic scenario, a student has the option of writing the JEE Main online or offline, but the exam is conducted just once a year. But only 1,25,000 of the almost 1 million students opt to take the test online.
Why is this change made?
- To ensure greater transparency and avoid instances of a paper leak.
- The online system will ensure better safety mechanisms, according to Bipin Batra, executive director of the National Board of Examinations (NBE), which conducts entrance tests such as NEET PG and NEET Super Specialty for medical students.
When is NTS conducting all the entrance exams?
The NTS is likely to conduct all entrance examinations including JEE, CAT, and UGC-NET- online from 2018.
What is the process of conducting exams?
- NTS will establish an online testing mechanism which will be able to conduct online tests for at least 1 million students at a time with suitable systems for proctoring, instant display of marks and preparation of the merit list.
- To ensure students from rural areas don't face obstacles in taking the online exam, NTS will help prepare them with through round-the-clock call center support.