In order to prevent candidates from cheating using internet, jammers will be used in the Joint Entrance Examinations (JEE) mains exams being held between 8 and 12 January, reports The New Indian Express.
According to the report, during the entrance examinations for the various engineering institutions in the country, one jammer will be installed for every 24 students at the entrance exam. Over 9.6 lakh students across 258 cities will take part in the computer-based test.
As many as 40,000 jammers would be used, Union Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar informed on Tuesday (1 January 2019).
“This is to make sure no examinee indulges in any malpractice,” Javadekar was quoted in the report as saying.
It is for the first time that devices like jammers are used in entrance examinations of various centrally-funded technical institutions like Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs) and National Institute of Technologies (NITs).
Further, the 2019 JEE (Mains) exam will be taken over by the National Testing Agency (NTA) from the Central Board For Secondary Education (CBSE). The NTA is a specialised body created a few months ago to conduct various entrance examinations.
“Using jammers - to ensure students can’t access the Internet via smartphones, tablets or transmitters, or can’t connect to anyone else — is done in many developed countries. We are now adopting it for important entrance exams" a senior NTA official was quoted in the report as saying.