AIEEE easier than last year, online candidates await their turn

Updated on: Monday, April 30, 2012

As their counterparts elsewhere in the country came out of classrooms, discussing the All India Engineering Entrance Examination- 2012 (AIEEE) paper that was “easier than last year's”, on Sunday, hundreds of class XII students across the city tracked responses online and from their friends over the phone, hoping the exam would be as easy when they take the online version of it a few days from now.

Nearly 1,100 B. Arch aspirants, however, took the offline AIEEE test in the city, held in two centres. The test determines admission to nearly 23,676 seats for B. E./B. Tech and 855 seats for B. Arch/ B. Planning in various institutions, such as the National Institutes of Technology, Deemed Universities, Technical Institutions and other government-funded institutions. Over 13 lakh students have applied for the test this year, compared to 11.7 lakh in 2011.

This year, the online exam will be held in Chennai between May 7 and 26. Tata Consultancy Services is the Central Board of Secondary Examination's (CBSE) IT partner for the online project. Many candidates are now familiar with the format thanks to the various mock online tests made available by private organisations, but students and coaching institutes have been on their toes for the past few months. The CBSE has uploaded mock online tests for students to understand the pattern as have many coaching institutes. “Students can practise at our free online testing facility from home or even come here and take them,” said R. Rajan, student mentor, FIITJEE, Chennai.

Many online test providers have also cropped up over the past few days. “They charge close to Rs. 2,000 for three tests but they give you feedback on how to reduce negative marking and manage time better,” said Karthik Krishnan, a student here.

Doubts such as we will be allowed to changing an answer or not get clarified because the screen will show the attempted, not attempted and marked for review differently, he explains. “I just hope we will get more rough sheets during the test. Students who took the paper last year said they were given just one. That might not be enough,” he added.

The location of the exam centres also worries some. “We have to reach the centre by 8.30 a.m. It is almost 20 km from my place,” said Pradhuth Vijay, a student, whose centre is near Thiruverkadu.

Last year, less than one per cent of students opted for the online exam. But with the AIEEE paper leak in 2011, most teachers and schools feel the online examination process will improve transparency. Students will be able to access their answer sheets after results are out and CBSE has said it will make answer sheets available. It has also clarified that the online and offline versions of the test will have the same difficulty level.

Many in the city, however, took the test in Puducherry and Madurai on Sunday. “It is a question of speed. I work faster on paper and I want to maximise my score. And I wanted the test to get over soon so that I could concentrate on BITSAT,” said Ravindran. J, a student who took the exam in Puducherry.

AIEEE easier than last year, online candidates await their turn

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