11th edition of the entrance test to be held in April 2012 will be held in the online
mode on a mass scale.
Last year, when the largest Indian entrance exam for aspiring
engineers opened up to technology, there were precisely 4,900 candidates who opted
for it. The remaining 11.13 lakh took the All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE)
in the old paper-pencil mode.
But the tepid response has done little to force the exam organizer to rethink its
plans. The Central Board for Secondary Education, which conducts the AIEEE, has
now put out a note stating that the 11th edition of the entrance test to be held
in April 2012 will be held in the online mode on a mass scale.
The notification states, Students are advised to acquaint themselves (with new technology).
CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi clarified that like last year, the exam would be offered
in the paper-pencil format, too, but there were certain changes that the board was
working on. A committee is drawing up plans on how to make the computer-based format
of the test more popular among candidates when the next edition of the exam rolls
out. To offer the exam on computers in certain large cities, where the student population
is comfortable with technology, is one suggestion, said Joshi.
Last year, when the CBSE had put in place infrastructure for 1 lakh students to
take the computer-based test, less than 0.5% signed up for the online entrance test.
While the board felt the computer-based test was the way forward to handle the ballooning
aspirants, the number of those who have opted for the new computer-based format
was a wake-up call for the board. We realized it was going to take longer than we
thought before we can offer the exam just on computers. Hence, we are reworking
our strategy, said a senior CBSE official.
But officials clarified that with the AIEEE having a large contingent
of candidates from rural India; it would take the CBSE at least a decade before
the entrance exam could be held completely on computers.
Courtesy: Times of India
