JEE Mains tomorrow

Challenge for both students and coaching institutes

Stage is set for the first revised edition of Joint Entrance Examination (offline) for admission into IITs, NITs and CTFIs on April 7. A total of 12 lakh students across the country-including two lakh from Andhra Pradesh - are likely to take the JEE-Mains exam which replaces AIEEE. AP students have only four exam centres at Warangal, Khammam, Guntur and Tirupathi. The online exam (ie Computer based one) will be conducted in four spells- ie on April 9, 22, 23 and 25. The results are expected exactly in one month - on May 7.

JEE Mains is in a way entrance test for getting into the prestigious IITs. Only the top 1,50,000 candidates, which are selected with certain norms are eligible to write JEE-Advanced which will be conducted on June 2. The selection of 1.50 lakh candidates is: 50.5% of the 1,50,000 (75,750 candidates) will be taken from the top rankers of the Common Merit List (CML) of JEE (Main). 27% (40,500), 15% (22,500) and 7.5% (11,250) candidates will be taken from the top rankers of the category rank lists of OBC-NCL, SC and ST, respectively. The candidates figuring in the category rank lists will be those who do not figure in the 75,750 candidates chosen from the CML. 3% is given for physically challenged candidates.

Candidates are a bit tensed as the IIT exam, till last year concludes on a single day, is now spread over to different exams. JEE Mains is of MCQ mode but the percentile factor worries them a lot. Going by the trend of AIEEE exams over the years, the paper-setters have been mostly concentrating on numerical questions- be it physics, chemistry or mathematics. This is likely to continue even this year, according to Chakravarty V of Narayana Group.

The exam is of three hour duration- from 9:30 am to 12: 30 noon. There is negative marking in the exam, for each negative answer 0.25 marks will be deducted. The entrance for admission into B Arch courses will be on the same day i.e. April 7 and conducted between 2 pm to 5 pm.

The JEE Mains is to be conducted by CBSE and the questions, in all likelihood, will be from their syllabus and test the conceptual base of the aspirants. As there is no parity across all plus two Boards across the country, the result is also will have an effect on future exams, according to experts. The exam is also a challenge to frontline coaching institutes whose ability to rise to the new format will be put to test. Surely, all eyes are on AP, which bags a majority of ranks and the top honours for the past six years, whether it will retain its position.

Chock-a-block, for sure in TirupatiA

As thousands of students are expected to reach Tirupati to appear for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Mains examination to be held on April 7, the eligibility test for admission into NIT, IIIT and other centrally funded technical institutions, it is going to be a chock-a-block in the city.

Tirupati is among the four towns, the others being Guntur, Warangal and Khammam, selected to organise the test. Hotels, lodges and private guest houses, which are usually booked well in advance in this pilgrim city, are now absolutely unavailable and it is going to a tough time for JEE aspirants and their accompanying parents.

Room rents for a few available rooms have shot up and hoteliers are obviously keen on cashing on the demand by doubling the room rents. A deluxe A/C room in a standard hotel is priced at about Rs 2, 000, but this had almost doubled for the weekend.

The students not only from Rayalaseema districts and neighbouring Nellore district, but also from border districts of Tamil Nadu chose Tirupati as their centre of examination and thus, the inadequacy of the city is exposed. Presuming possible hardship in nearest centre, Warangal, some of the students from Hyderabad and a few Telangana districts too opted for Tirupati and it added the woes.

Out of nearly 2 lakh students appearing for the examination, 18,749 are writing the examination in 34 centres in Tirupati, besides Renigunta and Chandragiri towns. Nearly 10,000 students are appearing for the JEE Mains paper II, B Arch entrance examination scheduled evening session from 2 to 5 pm. Rohit Panda, who is the Principal of Srividhya Niketan International School, Chandragiri, is the Regional Coordinator for the JEE Mains in Tirupati.

Since the exams of Class X and Intermediate are over, the students are already thronging in to the celestial abode Tirumala enroute Tirupati for seeking Lord Balaji's blessings. RTC Tirupati Region has made elaborate transport arrangements by plying 70 buses in nine major routes.

Speaking to The Hans India, regional coordinator for the JEE Mains in Tirupati, Rohit Panda said elaborated arrangements are made at 34 centres. He advised the students and the parents to reach the exam centres at least 45 minutes early to avoid getting caught in possible traffic snarls.

Elaborate arrangements made in Guntur

• Around 40,000 students writing exam in Guntur city
• Transport facility for students at exam centres
• Help desks to be set up at railway stations, bus stands

Elaborate arrangements are being made for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE-Main) being held on April 7 in Guntur.

Nearly two lakh students are appearing for the exam in the State. In Guntur city alone, 32,391 students will be writing the exam in the morning session and 10,726 for B Arch in the afternoon.

Last year, parents and students faced difficulty due to lack of proper accommodation. Considering it, the district administration has taken several measures in coordination with the officials of police, railway, revenue and transport departments for better conduct of examination this year. Officials have been directed to set up help desks at railway stations and bus stands.

Hotels full

The lodges and hotels are full and parents are opting for lodges in the surrounding areas presently. Some of the students have been residing in their relative's residences. Many educational institutions and non-profit organisations have come forward to provide food and accommodation for those who did not find accommodation.

Cashing in on the situation, hotel managements are said to be charging high for accommodation.

Bus facility for students Buses will be arranged for students at the exam centres from 12 noon, informed the officials. The RTC is pressing into service additional buses to meet the requirements of the students.

Collector seeks NGOs help Guntur District Collector S Suresh Kumar has asked the social service organisations and other NGOs in the city to lend a helping hand to provid basic needs to the students and parents coming from other towns and districts. Nearly 40,000 students are arriving in the city for the exam. With only four centres, it has become a challenging task for the authorities to make arrangements, said Collector Suresh Kumar.

Khammam to hold JEE Mains first time For the first time, Khammam has become one of the four centres in the State for Joint Entrance Examination (JEE-Main) offline. Nearly 8,000 students from neighbouring districts along with their parents are arriving in the tiny town on Sunday. According to officials, elaborate arrangements are made at 12 exam centres.

As the town is to witness heavy turnout of students from different parts, several voluntary organisations are coming forward to provide dormitory accommodation with food at nominal charges or free of cost. The decision was taken in a meeting of various voluntary organisations and associations convened in Khammam.

All hotels and lodgings in the city have been booked for April 6 and 7. Many small and medium hotels are also making temporary dormitory arrangements for the students, on these two days. Bus and auto operators have been asked not to take advantage of the rush and refrain from levying extra charges. The bus route chart, covering all examination centers, was also discussed in the meeting.

"We have made an appeal to all concerned to ensure smooth stay for the students and their guardians during the examination here," said Parvathi Reddy. TNGOs have come forward to provide free accommodation in TNGOs function hall. Khammam Chamber of Commerce is also making arrangements for free stay.