admission into IIT
Getting into IITs would become tougher from 2011 as the government has decided to give weightage to class XII results apart from the reform is being planned within three years of introduction of the new system of JEE which also came from within IIT. But HRD minister Kapil Sibal on Monday justified it on the ground that the new system had not worked well. A three-member committee has been set up to look into the curriculum and reform in JEE.
The committee, which will give its report in three months, consists of science and technology secretary T Ramasamy, secretary, department of biotechnology M K Bhan and director general CSIR Samir Brahmachari.
Reform in admissions is being done to check the mushrooming of coaching centres for IIT-JEE as well as the tendency among students to not take the class XII board examination seriously. Right now, a student having cleared IIT-JEE should have 60% in class XII.
Announcing this after a meeting of IIT Council, Sibal said, “The present criteria is that students need to secure 60% in class XII for appearing in IIT-JEE. This is not acceptable.”
Stating that the final decision should be left to the IITs, Sibal remarked that the minimum class XII marks could be anything between 80% and 85%. When asked about variation in marking across states, Sibal said the percentile would be factored in. “Let the IITs decide first. There is confusion right now,” a ministry source said.
In order to usher in long-term reforms and bring the focus back on research, the IIT Council also decided to set up a five-member committee under Anil Kakodkar, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, to suggest a roadmap for IITs for the next 10 years. The committee will give its report in six months outlining the broad areas of reforms required for the elite institutes to make them global brands.
The committee will also come up with a vision document for 2020 for the IITs. The document will suggest measures on how the IITs can collaborate with private sector in IT, bio-tech and other emerging areas. “It will suggest how the IITs need to move forward. The committee will specify how to give more emphasis on research and how the IITs can be more involved in the national projects for development,” Sibal said.
On the lines of IIMs, IIT Council also decided that directors and board members will be appointed on the basis of the nominations made by an independent collegium.
IIT Council also decided to change the norms for non-plan grants to IITs. Instead of the existing system of block grants, it will now be linked to the number of students in each IIT. Institutes having more students will get more grant.
Changes will be made even in the norms to attract investment from foreign universities so that any overseas institute can invest in the IITs for short duration. Sibal said right now it takes about three years under the Foreign Currency Regulation Act for a foreign institute to invest in an Indian institute for research and other collaborations.
Sibal said the IIT directors will evolve the Performance Related Incentive Scheme and submit it to the government for approval. He said there was no discussion on the pay structure issue at the council meeting. It has also been decided to hold meetings of the IIT Council once every six months. Yet another committee will be set up to decide the pay structure of the class-III employees.