Kapil Sibal defends new IIT entrance test format, fails to impress faculty

New Delhi: Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal's assurance on the new entrance test format seems to have done little to allay the fears of some of the IITs. The faculties of some of the IITs were not impressed with Sibal's defence.

President of the Faculty Forum of IIT Delhi Sanjeev Sanghi said that the idea of including the Class 12th marks was not good. "Different states have different boards. How can you evaluate their marks in the admission procedure? See when the government came with the inclusion policy IIT did take it into effect, new IITs were opened, the old IITs nurtured them. So whatever decision the government has taken we are supporting the government, it's not that we are outside the government. But these issues of school marks and coaching at a different place bother us and we have been thinking of how to find a solution," Sanghi said, talking to CNN-IBN Deputy Editor Sagarika Ghose.
IIT Delhi Alumni Association President Somnath Bharti said that before taking such decisions, the government should discuss them with the faculty and Senate.
Author and IIT Alumni Chetan Bhagat also said that the new format will take away a lot from the IIT brand.
Kapil Sibal on Monday virtually ruled out a rollback on his new one-nation-one-test proposal for engineering colleges. But defending the format, he did say that the government had no intention of infringing on the autonomy of the IITs.
Sibal also claimed it was a unanimous decision of the IIT Council.
Sibal further said that the decision of the IIT Council was in tune with the international practices.
Sibal had on May 28 announced that from 2013, aspiring candidates for IITs and other central institutes like NITs and IIITs will have to sit under a new format of common entrance test, which will also take the plus-two board results into consideration.
The Minister had claimed that it was approved without dissent at a council consisting of the IITs, the IIITs and the NITs.
Senate of the IIT-Kanpur has rejected the Centre's 'one-nation one-test' proposal and decided to conduct its own entrance exam from next year.
Sibal said that on his return, he would study the decisions being taken by the IIT Kanpur.
"This has nothing to do with the Government," he said noting that the decision has been taken in accordance with the IIT Act.
This would have no impact on the quality of the education in IITs.
(With additional information from PTI)