The Joint Entrance Examination (Main JEE-Main) and the Joint Entrance Examination (Advanced) will now accept applications for admission to the IITs and NITs from the top 20% of each educational board, thanks to a decision by the Ministry of Education (MoE) to relax the requirements for taking the exams.
NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Education (MoE) decided to relax the requirements for taking the Joint Entrance Examination - (Main JEE-Main) and JEE (Advanced) so that, in addition to those who received aggregate scores of 75% or higher in Class XII Boards, the top 20% of each educational Board will also be qualified to sit for the exams and apply for admission to the IITs and NITs on Tuesday.
The JEE (Main) January session online registration will expire on January 12th.
On December 15, 2023, the National Testing Agency (NTA) released the JEE (Main) test dates for the January and April examinations. The dates for the January exams are January 24 and January 31. According to the JEE (Main) 2023 information bulletin, eligibility for admission to B.Arch programs at the NITs, IIITs, and CFT through the central seat allocation board will be based on all-India rank with the additional requirement of at least 75% in aggregate in the Class XII examination taken by the relevant education boards.
Qualifying Candidates
The Class XII Board exam qualifying aggregate for SC/ ST candidates is 65%. During the epidemic, the qualifying requirements were not applied (2020, 2021 and 2022).
The National Testing Agency (NTA) was recommended to change the dates for the JEE Main 2023 examinations by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). On Twitter, applicants began to demand the removal of the qualifying requirements as well as the postponement of the dates.
Anubha Srivastava Sahai, an activist, has submitted a PIL to the Bombay High Court asking for the entrance exam to be postponed until April 2023. However, the HC on Tuesday refused to postpone the exam.
Following the candidates' Tuesday submissions to the MoE, the union education minister intervened and in a meeting decided to include the 20 percentile criteria as well as the 75% eligibility so that any candidates who might have missed it could still take the exam and participate in the subsequent admissions process.
A senior ministry official highlighted that, “The 20 percentile criteria will help those candidates who are short of 75% aggregate in their Class XII Boards. Discussions were held and since many of the top 20 percentile candidates in a number of State Boards score below 75% marks or 350 marks, the ministry decided that if a candidate is in the top 20 percentile he/ she is eligible”.
*Image Source: Times of India