JEE Main: Varying difficulty and phase 2 worries aspirants
MUMBAI : With the first phase of Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main completing a week, aspirants aiming to get into the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITS) expressed mixed reactions — some said certain sections of the paper were more difficult on certain days, while others are worried about the difficulty level in the second phase.
This is the first time JEE Main are being conducted in two phases (in January and in April), with most students opting to appear for both phases and choosing their best score to be eligible for JEE Advanced or admissions into a select few engineering institutes.
The first phase of the exams began on January 6. As per the new format, the exam will be conducted over 14 days in each cycle, with multiple sessions each day, specially designed to reduce cheating and manipulation during exams.
“On some days, the Physics section is giving too much trouble to students while on other days, there are no complaints. Students are worried they might lose out on precious marks if they are unlucky enought to find a difficult set while a counterpart attempts an easier set,” said Vinay Kumar, MD and CEO of Rao Academy, a coaching institute.
The examination-conducting body, though, has said the difficulty level and exam pattern will remain as it was during the past few years.
An education expert said many students from rural parts of the country who appear for JEE have been struggling with the sudden change of the computer-based format for the exam. “No matter how many mock tests they attempt, a student from a village will be anxious at the time of giving an online exam and that is one of the main reasons for the total registrations for JEE exam falling this year,” the expert said.
This year, a total of 9.41 lakh students registered to write JEE — a fall of 2.45 lakh from last year.
“Technologically, this (computer-based exam) is a great move and a futuristic one. However, students should have been prepared for it better,” said Pravin Tyagi, founder and director of Pace Junior Science Colleges.