Admission panel has a new formula ready
The admission committee will use raw percentile scores of students to prepare merit list this year; officials claim new formula is more transparent than last year’s which used normalised scores of various boards and JEE
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Saturday, April 26, 2014
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Saturday, April 26, 2014
Wiser after facing parental protests and legal battle, Admission Committee for Professional Courses (ACPC) has prepared a more transparent method in preparing the merit list this year. The formula being considered uses the raw percentile scores of students as against the benchmarking against Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) scores, officials in the know said. A large number of parents were up in arms against ACPC’s method of preparing merit list for admission to engineering and pharmacy colleges last year. Their contention was that the formula was against the interest of CBSE students.
Twenty-three such students had filed a petition against the admission process on the grounds that the normalisation formula used was discriminative and had awarded them very low percentile ranks despite their having scored high marks in their respective boards. The Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata, was responsible for the normalisation of marks scored by students of different boards. “We are planning to use the raw percentile of students to prepare the merit list this year. Though the formula used last year was prepared by ISI and was good, students and their parents were finding it difficult to understand the system.
The new formula will enable them to calculate their score by using a simple calculator,” said the official in the technical education department who did not want to be named. “The formula is not final. Besides, the matter is sub-judice still,” the official pointed out. “However, we can say with certainty that the new formula will make preparing merit list more transparent.” The committee gives 60 per cent weightage to students’ percentile score in board examination and 40 per cent weightage to their JEE score in preparing the merit list. The confusion, the official said, was mainly because the committee was benchmarking even the board exam percentile against JEE scores of the students.
The committee plans to put the formula and the calculator on its web site so that students and parents can check their merit. Incidentally, Maharashtra follows the same formula, the official said, to prepare merit list for admission to professional courses. The committee has started discussion on the formula as it is keen on beginning the admission process and complete it by August 15. Education department had set up a committee last year to look into the issues arising out of the technical department’s decision to prepare a common merit list of Gujarat board and other boards such as CBSE and ICSE. The committee suggested the new formula. ACPC plans to educate students and all concerned with admission on the merit list this year at all counseling centres to avoid confusion like it happened last year.
THE CONTROVERSY
Last year the aggrieved students from CBSE had moved Gujarat High Court against the admission process. The court, after looking at the facts presented, concluded that the calculations were non-compliant with the provisions of the Bachelor of Engineering & Technology (Regulation of Admission & Payment of Fees) Rules, 2013, and therefore violated Article 14 of the Constitution. On July 24, the court directed ACPC to prepare a fresh merit list after normalisation of marks from different boards. The new list was to give 60 per cent weightage to board exam results and 40 per cent to JEE score. The high court also specified that the calculation of the percentile of central board students should be on the basis of their performance in their board exams. The ACPC appealed against the high court order in the apex court stating that admission to 54,000 students had already been completed and the remaining 16,000 were to be given seats in the management quota of various colleges. The apex court on July 30, 2013, stayed the high court order. The final hearing is likely to come up in May, sources said.
Twenty-three such students had filed a petition against the admission process on the grounds that the normalisation formula used was discriminative and had awarded them very low percentile ranks despite their having scored high marks in their respective boards. The Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata, was responsible for the normalisation of marks scored by students of different boards. “We are planning to use the raw percentile of students to prepare the merit list this year. Though the formula used last year was prepared by ISI and was good, students and their parents were finding it difficult to understand the system.
The new formula will enable them to calculate their score by using a simple calculator,” said the official in the technical education department who did not want to be named. “The formula is not final. Besides, the matter is sub-judice still,” the official pointed out. “However, we can say with certainty that the new formula will make preparing merit list more transparent.” The committee gives 60 per cent weightage to students’ percentile score in board examination and 40 per cent weightage to their JEE score in preparing the merit list. The confusion, the official said, was mainly because the committee was benchmarking even the board exam percentile against JEE scores of the students.
The committee plans to put the formula and the calculator on its web site so that students and parents can check their merit. Incidentally, Maharashtra follows the same formula, the official said, to prepare merit list for admission to professional courses. The committee has started discussion on the formula as it is keen on beginning the admission process and complete it by August 15. Education department had set up a committee last year to look into the issues arising out of the technical department’s decision to prepare a common merit list of Gujarat board and other boards such as CBSE and ICSE. The committee suggested the new formula. ACPC plans to educate students and all concerned with admission on the merit list this year at all counseling centres to avoid confusion like it happened last year.
THE CONTROVERSY
Last year the aggrieved students from CBSE had moved Gujarat High Court against the admission process. The court, after looking at the facts presented, concluded that the calculations were non-compliant with the provisions of the Bachelor of Engineering & Technology (Regulation of Admission & Payment of Fees) Rules, 2013, and therefore violated Article 14 of the Constitution. On July 24, the court directed ACPC to prepare a fresh merit list after normalisation of marks from different boards. The new list was to give 60 per cent weightage to board exam results and 40 per cent to JEE score. The high court also specified that the calculation of the percentile of central board students should be on the basis of their performance in their board exams. The ACPC appealed against the high court order in the apex court stating that admission to 54,000 students had already been completed and the remaining 16,000 were to be given seats in the management quota of various colleges. The apex court on July 30, 2013, stayed the high court order. The final hearing is likely to come up in May, sources said.
