| Come Engineering Admissions 2010, IITJEE and AIEEE | | | | stress some Students must have faced while |
| aspirants can look forward to a joint, single window | | | | preparing for the semester examinations which are |
| counselling system for selecting their course option in | | | | scheduled for December. It is expected that there are |
| any of the Indian Institutes of Technology(IIT) or in the | | | | still hundreds of unfilled vacancies in the 20 NITs |
| National Institutes of Technology(NIT). | | | | across the country. |
| Currently, IITs conduct the Joint Entrance | | | | Several members from the aca [removed][removed] |
| Examination(JEE) whereas NITs and other prominent | | | | demia have pointed out earlier that seats in NITs must |
| Engineering Colleges conduct the All India Engineering | | | | not remain empty when there are so many deserving |
| Entrance Examination (AIEEE) to enable students to | | | | students aspiring to get a seat. |
| pick their institute of choice and branch based on the | | | | Adding to this confusion were the changes that were |
| score they get in the respective Engineering Entrance | | | | implemented in the fifty per cent Home State quota. |
| Exams. | | | | After the initial rounds of counselling, admission of |
| According to leading newspaper reports, the new | | | | students in the subsequent rounds was based on the |
| single-window system of counselling is expected to | | | | central AIEEE pool. |
| relieve AIEEE's Central Counselling Board (CCB). The | | | | As a result, in some NITs, including those in New Delhi, |
| AIEEE 2009 counselling encountered glitches as a | | | | Allahabad and Warangal, where the culture of |
| result of implementation of the ‘Online Off-campus' | | | | entrance exam coaching is more popular, the |
| counselling process. | | | | composition of Home State students is between sixty |
| Expected to be implemented for the academic year | | | | and eighty per cent. NITs which were meant to |
| of 2010-2011, the separate entrance exams of IITJEE | | | | inculcate students from across the nation now sport a |
| and AIEEE are not being cancelled even though the | | | | regional character due to last year’s Counselling |
| admissions to IIT s and NIT s are to be made through | | | | glitches. |
| single window counseling process. | | | | The joint mechanism that the IITs and NITs are |
| It is learnt that the idea of a common examination for | | | | expected to implement, is bound to become a major |
| IIT-JEE and AIEEE are also being discussed. | | | | success. This joint counselling for admission under |
| AIEEE 2009’s ‘Online - Off campus’ | | | | AIEEE and IIT-JEE will enable filling of all vacancies in |
| system of counselling was introduced only last year | | | | NITs and IITs without any scope for vacant seats |
| with the intention of negating the need for students to | | | | which lead to disappointment and confusion. For |
| travel from one part of the country to another to | | | | instance, the possibility will be created for students |
| select their seat, but it did not serve the objective as | | | | who have appeared for IITJEE as well as AIEEE to |
| expected. At the start of the process, students did | | | | opt for a branch of choice in an NIT nearer home |
| enjoy the convenience of selecting their desired | | | | rather than an available branch in a far-off IIT with |
| colleges and courses from the comfort of their homes. | | | | absolute clarity of mind. Since the syllabi is more or |
| The system was conceptualized to enable students to | | | | less similar for all the boards, the IITs and NITs are |
| go to the allotted institution just a few days before | | | | stated to be pursuing the idea of common admission |
| commencement of the academic session. The Online | | | | mechanism to serve the students better while making |
| – Off Campus Counselling method looked very | | | | their choice process simpler. |
| promising in the first few rounds of counselling by | | | | Majority is of the opinion that objective type tests for |
| which time all the seats were filled. But as the | | | | NITs and IITs for which the coaching centres prepare |
| admission season progressed, the blocked seats | | | | the candidates for years together, do not determine |
| began falling vacant. Students who made it to IITs | | | | the applicants’ actual comprehension of the |
| apparently paid no attention to intimate AIEEE’s | | | | subjects. |
| Centralised Counselling Board about the seats they | | | | Does this mean that in the near future we can expect |
| had blocked in AIEEE’s initial counseling rounds. This | | | | the Standard 12th scores to be considered as the |
| confusion prolonged the counselling until October 2009 | | | | basis for admission to IITs and NITs? Watch this space |
| — a full two months after the commencement of | | | | for more. |
| the academic year. Due to this, One can imagine the | | | | |