Over the last few months, different entities – the Ministry
of HRD (MHRD), the NIT Council, the IITs etc. have talked about not counting the weightage of the Class 12 exams in Engineering admissions. As
per an MHRD report, this will be put into practise during the 2017 academic
season.
Currently, since the Class 12 scores hold a weightage in the
JEE ranks, the JEE authorities accept Class 12 scores from a set of school boards
certified by the Association of Indian Universities. However, if the new design
is implemented, it will not matter if the students gives his or her Class 12
exam from any board. The MHRD is worried that this may give rise to a number of
fake boards, which may ruin students’ lives. They have already started listing
fake boards, in order to ensure that students don’t join them.
In parallel, the AICTE has also started taking action
against errant engineering colleges. In an answer to a question asked in the Lok
Sabha, HRD Minister Smriti Irani mentioned that AICTE has proceeded against 132 errant engineering institutes, including shutting down 87
of them.
Considering all these actions, the HRD Ministry seems to be
moving in a manner that makes sense and is beneficial for students, when observed
from a larger perspective. It only remains to be seen how well the actions are
implemented.