Students get just 24 hours to challenge the answer keys of JEE Main!

The Central Board of Secondary Education has declared the answer keys of JEE Main. The keys of both online and offline exam were uploaded on Monday afternoon and shall be available only till 5 PM on Tuesday. Students have been asked to challenge the answer keys by Tuesday evening which gives them around 24 hours to make the complaint. Moreover, demanding Rs 1000 for each question challenged has raised serious questions about the scheme.

The payment can be made either through debit/credit card or e-challan. Moreover, any sort of challenges received by post or in person would not be considered. Once, CBSE accepts the challenge, the required correction would be made and the fee would be refunded.

Majority of the professors and officials don’t consider it a very good move. As quoted by a senior professor of IIT Delhi, “Charging money for challenging multiple questions reflects the typical mindset of CBSE that is involved in conducting board examinations”.

Expecting students to challenge within a short span of 24 hours is not a wise act. Students and parents deserve to get some more time to challenge the answer keys. Moreover, charging thousand rupees for each question is an expensive affair. In fact, some educationists also feel that CBSE should correct the answer key for all students instead of only those who challenged it since the key is applicable to everyone. The procedure is not being welcomed by many and seems to have certain loop holes.

The scenario of JEE advanced is quite different. Students used to get two-three days for challenging the answer keys of JEE Advanced around two years back. But now students are provided the carbon copy of their answer sheet and question paper at the time of examination. Before the official declaration of result, the scanned copy of answer sheets of all candidates is uploaded. Henceforth, the answer key is released and in case of any wrong answers, the necessary corrections are made. The marks are then calculated on the basis of the final answer key.

Guarding CBSE’s move, chairperson Joshi said that 24 hours are sufficient as they did not receive any challenges last year. Moreover, redressing the challenge to answer keys is not an easy task as it involves a lot of people. Supporting their decision to charge money, Joshi quoted,” There is a question of logistics so we felt some money should be charged.”  However, in extreme cases where students cannot afford to pay the fee, they may approach and write to CBSE directly and their challenge will be accepted.