The Joint Entrance Examination
The website above is the portal to login and view the scores of the Joint Entrance Examination. Nothing is more stressful for a student than the moment of truth before viewing their results, and this stress stems from the very fact that the competition is intense. The Indian Joint Entrance Examination is a test used by the Indian Institutes of Technology to determine who receives a spot in the IITs, of which there are 23 schools. The acceptance rate for these schools combined is less than 2%. Students in India often view admission into these schools as a ticket to another life, which is not an exaggeration. This website captures the pinnacle of all this stress and competition that the Joint Entrance Examination embodies.
The usual entrant into these schools have taken at least 2 years of coaching after graduation and come from wealthy families. The competition is fierce and indicative of the country at large. Education in India is heavily STEM based and high paying jobs are scarce for those who don't attend these prestigious universities. In addition, unless you graduate from a top university like an IIT, it is incredibly difficult to move up the corporate ladder. This intense competition combined with essentially zero possibility for upward mobility pushes many to move to America in search of greener grounds.
The Joint Entrance Examination and admissions criteria for the IITs also show another problem that faces India today: the lack of social mobility. Entrance into these universities is entirely based on performance on these tests. As a result, those who have access to top-notch test prep have the advantage in admissions. As a general trend, these students are usually children of rich families. It's indicative of India at large which tends to preserve its social and economic class stratifications. It's incredibly difficult for people to overcome basic caste discrimination in India and also overcome the various other obstacles that prevent people from moving up the social ladder such as corruption.
The Indian JEE is a test that will determine whether the dreams of tens of thousands of students will come true; it is also a test that reflects many of the major problems that force people to move out of India. It is a portrayal of the class inequality and severe competition that causes people to look for more opportunity elsewhere and immigrate to America.
The usual entrant into these schools have taken at least 2 years of coaching after graduation and come from wealthy families. The competition is fierce and indicative of the country at large. Education in India is heavily STEM based and high paying jobs are scarce for those who don't attend these prestigious universities. In addition, unless you graduate from a top university like an IIT, it is incredibly difficult to move up the corporate ladder. This intense competition combined with essentially zero possibility for upward mobility pushes many to move to America in search of greener grounds.
The Joint Entrance Examination and admissions criteria for the IITs also show another problem that faces India today: the lack of social mobility. Entrance into these universities is entirely based on performance on these tests. As a result, those who have access to top-notch test prep have the advantage in admissions. As a general trend, these students are usually children of rich families. It's indicative of India at large which tends to preserve its social and economic class stratifications. It's incredibly difficult for people to overcome basic caste discrimination in India and also overcome the various other obstacles that prevent people from moving up the social ladder such as corruption.
The Indian JEE is a test that will determine whether the dreams of tens of thousands of students will come true; it is also a test that reflects many of the major problems that force people to move out of India. It is a portrayal of the class inequality and severe competition that causes people to look for more opportunity elsewhere and immigrate to America.