NEW DELHI: Following the Central Board of Secondary Education’s decision to reduce the CBSE syllabus for Classes 9 to 12 by 30% for the academic year 2021-22, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are also deliberating whether to reduce the JEE Advanced 2021 syllabus. The Joint Entrance Examination Advanced is for admission to the undergraduate BTech and integrated 5 year engineering programmes at the 23 IITs.

The question of syllabus reduction for JEE Advanced 2021 will be raised -- and settled -- at the meeting of the Joint Admission Board (JAB) of the IITs scheduled for Friday, July 17. “We will take the decision in the JAB meeting. It is happening on Friday,” V Ramagopal Rao, director IIT Delhi, told Careers360. Each year, the test is organised by a different IIT. JEE Advanced 2020 is being organised by IIT Delhi and is scheduled to be held on September 27.

CBSE revised syllabus

The CBSE’s decision, announced on July 7, was taken due to the loss of classroom teaching due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The minister of human resource development, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ had said that the exam syllabus was being reduced while retaining the “core concepts” in the curriculum.

Following the CBSE, several states announced they were reducing the syllabus too. These included Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Goa and Gujarat.

The Council for Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) had already released a revised syllabus for major subjects at ICSE and ISC exams, docking about a quarter of the content.

JEE Advanced 2020 exam format

Speaking to Careers360, Rao has specified that the exam format of JEE Advanced 2020 is being looked at keeping in view the COVID situation. He specified that all guidelines regarding social distancing, safety measures would be followed and hence, the exam fomat will be looked at closely to incorporate all of that.

When asked about the possibility of cancellation of JEE Advanced this year, he gave a categorical no in his reply.

Admission criteria for IITs and NITs

Speaking to Indian Express, Rao reportedly also mentioned that deliberations are on with regard to relaxation in the Class 12 percentage required for admissions to the IITs, NITs, IIITs and GFTIs.

Students belonging to general category need a minimum of 75% in their Class 12 to be eligible for admissions in these institutes while SC/ST students need 65%.

Keeping in view the no exam policy followed by most boards and the declaration of the results on the basis of past performance, the JAB board is also deliberating on the relaxation for the admissions this year.

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