Joint Entrance Exam: Is it perfect?
There is a move by the government and several committees to abolish multiple exams, and replace it by a centralized examination. A proposal is that the admissions to IIT would be based on this exam + some weightage from the board. There is quite a bit of hue and cry from the supporters as well as opponents of Joint Entrance Examination. I have not thought deeply about this issue, but it is true that we as a civilization are too exam centric. Here are my some general thoughts: 1. Since no exam is perfect, it is not a good idea to base admissions solely on one exam. Most of the reputed institutions (e.g., top US and UK universities) do not do it. If the number of applicants are less, one exam may be OK. But it is not likely to work when the number of applicants go beyond 5 lacs, which is the case for the present JEE. 2. JEE has plusses, but the negatives are too serious to ignore. (a) At present, there must be more than 500 students having identical aggregate mark in