The Indian Express had reported on July 11 that this year, as a one-time exception, IITs will only require JEE (Advanced) rank-holders to have passed their Board exams. (Representational)
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) on Friday decided to drop the Class 12 performance criterion for admissions this year, while the discussion on a “one-time change in the format of JEE (Advanced) due to COVID19 outbreak” remained inconclusive.
According to sources, another meeting of the Joint Admission Board (JAB) will be held next week to decide whether a change in the examination format is warranted. JAB is the top decision-making body on JEE (Advanced) and has directors of all IITs and representatives of the HRD Ministry as its members.
The Indian Express had reported on July 11 that this year, as a one-time exception, IITs will only require JEE (Advanced) rank-holders to have passed their Board exams.
Usually, a general category rank holder should have either scored at least 75 per cent or figure in the top 20 percentile of her Board results to secure a seat at an IIT. SC/ST candidates should have either scored at least 65 per cent or fulfill the top 20 percentile requirement.
On Friday, the JAB approved the proposal on dropping the Board exam criterion.
Announcing the decision on Twitter on behalf of the IITs, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said the Board exam criterion had been relaxed “due to partial cancellation of Class XII exams by several Boards”.
The JAB meeting on Friday also discussed the feasibility of holding JEE (Advanced) in centres abroad “in the context of restrictions imposed by COVID19 outbreak”. According to sources, a decision on this will be taken at JAB meeting next week.
IITs have been holding the entrance exam for international students at Dhaka, Dubai, Kathmandu and Singapore. This year, it had also decided to add a centre in the US.