The confusion over the normalization process for admission to National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and other central government technical educational institutes led to a protest at the CBSE office in Preet Vihar on Thursday morning. About sixty candidates gathered outside the office—the board conducted the Joint Entrance Examination Main in April.
The new process—decided after the exam had been conducted—is being described as one of “swapping marks” by candidates who have had their ranks altered drastically under the new system. “I scored 228 in the JEE Main and was expecting my rank to be around 7,000,” said a student of a Delhi school. “Now, due to the introduction of normalization, my rank is around 21,000. My career is at stake. I won’t get into any good college or be able to opt for a course of my choice,” he added.
According to the protesters, CBSE joint secretary S P Rana met a few people to inform them that the board has only conducted the exam and the formula for normalization has been devised by the vice-chancellor of BITS Pilani. With the change in ranks brought about by the formula—the number of students writing a particular board exam also matters—the candidates have to change their courses along with colleges. Candidates from outside Delhi participated in the protest as well. Arth, from Jaipur, managed a score of 218 and was hoping to study in Delhi. Now he’s not so sure. The protesters later headed towards the apex court and were given a hearing date in August.
