Edu-leaders

The application fee for girl candidates for IIT’s joint entrance examination (JEE) has been abolished from next year, while 80 per cent hike has been made for male candidates, said IIT joint admission board (JAB).

The fee for female candidates was half of that for male candidates earlier. The fee for maloe candidates has now risen from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,800.

The JAB has also decided to allow the applicants to carry a copy of optic response sheet on which answers are inscribed immediately after the examination. Each answer sheet will have a self-carbon copy that the student can take home. From next year, the candidates can also circle the answers by pen instead of pencil, which was earlier not allowed. This decision was made to check against tampering. Next year's JEE would be conducted by IIT-Delhi.

However, there will be no change in the exam’s format next year. The JEE will continue to be an objective-type test consisting of two papers. Both papers will have three separate sections: physics, chemistry and mathematics.