JEE Main Exam To Be Conducted In More Regional Languages Of India: Union Education Minister

Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank on Thursday (22 October) announced that the Joint Admission Board (JAB) of the 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has decided to conduct the Joint Entrance Examination - Main (JEE-Main) in more regional languages of the country, reports Economic Times.

The JEE-Main, apart from being a test for admission to various engineering colleges in the country, also serves as an eligibility test for the JEE-Advance for admission to the IITs. The test is currently conducted in English, Hindi and Gujarati. However, from the next year, the test will be offered in more regional languages.

"In line with the vision of #NEP2020, the Joint Admission Board (JAB) of #JEE (Main) has decided to conduct the JEE (Main) examination in more regional languages of India," Nishank tweeted.

"The examination will also be conducted in regional languages where entry to State Engineering Colleges is decided based on an examination (conducted in regional language). State language of states who admit students based on the #JEE(Main) will also be included under this," the minister said in another tweet.

"This decision has far-reaching implications as Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) has pointed out that top-scoring countries in PISA examination use mother tongue as a medium of instruction. The decision of JAB will help students comprehend questions better and score higher," Nishank tweeted.

According to the report, the National Testing Agency, which organises the exam, is yet to decide on the regional languages in which the test will be offered.

"The exam will be offered in those regional languages in which the states are already conducting their local entrance exams for engineering. More languages will be added following whichever states are part of the JEE-Main and wants their language to be included in the test," an official was quoted as saying.