IITs plan to drop Class 12 marks as criteria for 2020-21 admissions due to COVID-19 pandemic

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are considering dropping the Class 12 performance criterion for admissions this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting Board examinations across the country. As per a report in The Indian Express, the disruption of Class 12 examinations was discussed at a meeting of the Joint Implementation Committee (JIC) earlier in the month. During the meeting, JEE chairpersons proposed that the Class 12 criterion should be waived for 2020. According to the report, a JIC member who wished to remain anonymous said it was decided that the IITs should insist on rank holders to have passed their Board exams this year. The JIC member added, “There are very few rank holders who are denied admission every year for either not scoring a minimum of 75 percent marks or meeting the top 20 percentile cut-off. So, doing away (with this criterion) for one admission cycle isn’t going to make a big difference.” According to a report in Jagran Josh, as per the official exam schedule, the JEE Main 2020 exam will be held between 1 to 6 September, while the JEE Advanced 2020 is scheduled for 27 September. As per a report by Business Insider, the development comes as CBSE and other state boards used different criteria to assess students during the COVID-19 pandemic. On 26 June, the Supreme Court approved CBSE’s decision to cancel Class 10 and Class 12 pending board exams with the assessment now being based on average marks scored in the subjects the students have already appeared for. The report added that the committee is also reviewing the situation of students abroad, including those in Dhaka, Dubai and Singapore who were planning to get admission to the IITs through the joint entrance exam.