• 11th Aug 2018
• News

Cancelling JEE Advanced, increasing seats to 80,000 Suggested for IIT Council on August 21

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In a move to radicalize and revamp the engineering education in the country, the IIT Council is planning to discuss the proposal of dismantling the JEE Advanced examination. Among the other proposals up for discussion in the IIT Council meeting scheduled for August 21 is the also the proposal to discontinue the flagship B.Tech programs and offer post graduate courses. The proposal also suggests offering semester experience instead of the complete degree to to 80,000 students instead of the present 10,000.

JEE Advanced is currently conducted by the consortium of the regional IITs for admission to the top engineering colleges of the country – the Indian Institutes of Technology. As per the report published in ET, sources in HRD Ministry have confirmed that these ideas would be up for discussion in the upcoming council meeting. However, there was no comment shared on the feasibility of the implementation of the said proposal.

The changes are being suggested under the idea of ‘Revamping Engineering Education and Returning Childhood to students’. The proposal has been forwarded by some of the eminent faculty members of various IITs.

The details of the proposal include the suggestion of using JEE Main score for the selection of students across engineering colleges. As per the information available, it is being suggested that students would be ranked on the basis of their JEE Main scores and candidates would be bracketed in 10 groups with students falling in each group considered at par. For example, all the students who score between 80 to 90 percent would be treated equal.

IITs would then in turn select the candidates from the top group. The proposal further suggests that IITs may offer a semester experience to students. Under the scheme, students would be invited for semester experience for 5, 6, 7 and 8 or 3 and 4 year of their B.Tech degrees. The selection would be based on the NPTEL score and a fee of Rs. 2 lakh would be charged for the IIT experience with adequate loan and scholarship facility.

Under the scheme, students would get a degree of their respect colleges which would categorically mention that the students completed the said semester at the IITs. The students who get an IIT experience would also get preference for admission into postgraduate courses at various IITs. Adding to the role of IITs, the proposal suggests that IITs would be converted into mentoring institutes with each IIT undertaking the responsibility of 100 colleges.

The idea of IITs not offering undergraduate engineering programs any more is unfathomable at present. The institutes continue to rank amongst the very best in the world, competing for the slot among the top 100 universities of the world. However, a careful analysis of the proposal suggests a radical change which may at present be crucial for the country.

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