The IIT dilemma - Old vs New

WHILE the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are still believed to be the ultimate destination for engineering students, more than 500 students have rejected the admission offer to study in one of these institutes this year. Reasons vary from not getting one's choice discipline to being hesitant about 'new IITs' and temporary campuses.

The seven 'old IITs' include Kharagpur, Bombay, Delhi, Madras, Kanpur, Roorkee and Guwahati. Eight more were added to the list and approved by the government in 2008. These IITs are mentored by the nearest old IITs.

Surendra Prasad, director, IIT-Delhi, says that the rejections should be seen in the context of new IITs. People are suspicious of the effectiveness of the new IITs. The sudden expansion has led to this kind of a situation, he explains. However, he agrees that though the pace could be a little slow, the need for an expansion was always there.

A recent ministry of human resource development (MHRD) agenda paper on the futuristic vision of IITs states that India has about 1,700 engineering educational institutions and about two million students. The number of graduates per year is about 4,00,000. In a scenario like this, the seven IITs, 20 NITs, three IIITs, and a few other institutes are not sufficient. According to the MHRD report, the only way to meet the demand is by increasing the intake of existing IITs by setting up satellite campuses of existing campuses or setting up new IITs.

As to the hesitation factor of parents and students, Prasad says, “It is important to disseminate information and we are trying our best.” What parents and students need to know is, he adds, that all these new IITs have an established IIT as their mentor. Besides, quality will not be compromised in any of these new institutes. But then, Prasad points out that in the initial years, the dilemma is likely to persist because one has to choose between an established IIT and a new one. That's a tough choice to make.

While one of the major concerns of IIT aspirants and parents seems to be the idea of temporary campuses, Rajat Chakraborty, ex-professor and former head of Jadavpur University, mechanical engineering, feels that such fears are unfounded. “The moment the first batch from any of these institutes complete their placements, students will start feeling confident.”

New Entrance Scheme Likely To Start In 2011.

Marks scored in the Plus Two board examinations are likely to become a key determining factor in addition to performance in the nervewracking Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for admission into the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) by 2011.

In a few months, a pan-IIT committee, formed by the Union HRD ministry to suggest reforms to JEE, is expected to submit its report recommending ways to factor in the marks scored by students in higher secondary examinations while preparing the IIT merit list. A meeting of all IIT directors and JEE representatives in Chennai over the weekend discussed the proposed changes.

“We hope to devise a methodology to compute a normalised Plus Two cut-off eligibility score for each educational board (CBSE, ICSE, and State Boards). If it's approved, then only students who have scored this cut-off mark would become eligible to appear for JEE,'' IIT Madras deputy director V G Idichandy, who is heading the committee, said on Monday.

The present eligibility norm of an aggregate score of 60% in Plus Two determined by the IIT standing council, as opposed to 85% recommended by a JEE review committee four years ago, is considered too poor a benchmark.

“We are collecting data on Plus Two results of the past four to five years from different boards in all states to base our recommendation on. Much will depend on how we compute an acceptable method to normalise the marks scored in different boards. You have nearly 40 boards of education in India,'' Prof Idichandy said.

However, the even more difficult part is to convince authorities of all the boards to declare Plus Two results within a specified time-frame every academic year.

“This will be crucial for us as we have to base JEE on Plus Two results. This is where a common school board, at least at the level of higher secondary education, which has been proposed by HRD minister Kapil Sibal, will help in determining any all-India merit list,'' he said.

NTSE original Papers

A good news for NTSE Stage-2 aspirants

Just now i came to know that Previous 3 years' original papers of NTSE Stage-2 are now available at Resonance IIT-JEE institute.
Also Resonance-PCCP division announces 5 days Extensive Workshop for NTSE Stage-2 Preparation.
Details are given at www.pccp.resonance.ac.in