The IIT-Delhi, which is organizing IIT-JEE 2012, has invited all IIT directors for a workshop on Friday, where an online model will be demonstrated. The JEE office is hosting the workshop. Sources from IIT-Delhi have confirmed that Education Testing Services (ETS), which conducts the GRE and several other popular global online examinations, will make a presentation at the workshop.

Most officials on record denied plans to go online with JEE. A senior official from one of the IITs claimed that the workshop was scheduled to discuss the possibilities of an online examination for JEE. “We might just discuss the feasibility. No decision has been taken,” said the official.

A senior IIT-B professor said, “An online exam may or may not work for JEE. While CAT faced teething problems initially, it is stabilized now. For an exam, where you need to calculate a lot, pen and paper seems to be a better option. But students these days are well versed with technology and in future, everything might be computerized.”

Currently, only two directors have responded to the invitation, claimed an official from IIT-Delhi. “Experts from ETS will make a presentation and showcase their testing systems. It is a successful testing pattern in the US. But there will not be any overnight decision on JEE going online,” said the official.

Now, however, the IITs have unanimously decided to scrap JMET and accept CAT scores to select students for their MBA programmes. While this move was made in a bid to reduce the number of examinations, students and MBA aspirants feel that this has put them under more pressure.

Vaishnavi Jayaraman, who graduated in mechanical engineering from SSN College, Chennai and plans to do her MBA, says, “Earlier,MBA aspirants had a wider choice of exams. If you did not do well in one exam, you could make up for it in the next one. Now we are under more pressure because we do not have a choice but to perform well in CAT to make it to the top-rung B-schools. On the brighter side, she adds, the pattern has changed for the better with the number of sections reduced from three to two, with a time limit of 70 minutes per section.”

S Balasubramanian, director, TIME (a management coaching centre),believes that the new move has both positives and negatives. The number of exams a student has to prepare for has now come down. But also, now they have only one shot at securing admissions into the college of their choice, he says.

The IITs have a different take on the issue and they believe that the use of CAT scores for admissions is also a way of showing solidarity with other reputed B-schools in the country. G Srinivasan, HOD, department of management studies, IIT Madras ,explains, Every year, only about 40,000 students/aspirants take the JMET,as opposed to over four lakh students who take GATE and JEE. We must acknowledge that although students will be under pressure, this will help reduce their preparation burden. Besides, we have the independence to choose what exams to use for admissions. He argues that there is not much of a difference between JMET and CAT.

LS Ganesh, professor, department of management studies, IIT Madras, says, CAT is a well-evolved exam and in any case, there are more students taking CAT than JMET. Besides, our MBA programmes are on a par with those offered at other reputed institutes. It will help us re-align our image as a business school.
However, other criteria like cutoffs, performance in group discussions and interviews will ultimately dictate admission of a student in the programme.

The over-dependence on government funds, coupled with the widening gap between actual costs incurred and tuition fee charged, has long been considered a major deterrent to the IITs’ efforts at financially independence. This is one of the key aspects cited in a government report. The IIT Council has now recommended a conditional fee hike to Rs 2 lakh yearly, subject to approval by the Finance Ministry.

“The root of the autonomy challenge lies in the inability of the IITs to be financially independent… Being largely funded by the government, the IITs are subjected to government spending regulations and audit. The IITs’ ability to invest is also constrained by the spending curbs of the government. This has put the IITs at a disadvantage compared to many reputed universities around the world which have full financial autonomy,” said the report, filed by a committee appointed by the HRD Ministry.

The revenue sources of the seven best established IITs include student fees, government receipts, investments and others (entrance exam fee, library fee, sponsorships etc). Their total operating revenues was Rs 942 crore in 2009 and Rs 1,283 crore in 2010, with 82 per cent coming as grants from the government. The return on endowments and investments as well as donations from alumni account for about three per cent of the operating revenues “as against 10-40 per cent for top US universities”.

Experts said increasing the tuition fee is just one way of raising funds. “Industrial consultancy and generation of income from IPR are two areas where the IITs must concentrate more,” said an IIT-Bombay alumnus.

The committee had also recommended that all ministries provide a minimum of 20 per cent overheads without a ceiling on the research and development projects sanctioned to the IITs. “This is necessary to avoid strain on institute resources as they undertake enlarged R&D activities. Most US universities charge overheads to the tune of 50 per cent. Industrial consultancy and royalty, alumni and industrial grants/donations and continuing education programmes, would be some other modes for enhancing IIT finances,” the report said.

The fee structure decided by the Council, the highest decision-making body of the IITs, is complex. While all students at the time of admission will pay the existing fee, after they pass out 25% of students (other than SCs/STs/OBCs) who can afford the hike of Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh suggested by Anil Kakodkar committee, would be made to pay the amount to their institutions in easy installments.

As to how it would be implemented, HRD minister Kapil Sibal said employers would pay to the IIT. Asked how this would be ensured, Sibal said under the proposed law that would allow dematerialisation of certificates in electronic format, employers would cross-check the validity of certificates from government and then they would be told to pay a part of salary directly to the institute.

But there were no clear answers to other questions: What happens to a student who starts his own business? What happens to students who join a foreign firm in a foreign country? One official asserted that the students would have to sign a bond at the time of admission.

Sibal said the payback by 25% students would not apply if he joins M.Tech and subsequently Ph.D. He would be charged only after he joins a firm. Exception would also be given to students who after Ph.D join the IIT faculty. Reason: There is a dearth of good faculty in IITs. But, Sibal said, the entire formulation on fee has to meet the approval of finance ministry.

As for the common entrance test, what has been decided by the T Ramaswami committee is a new kind of Joint Entrance Examination where weightage would be given to class XII marks of students and a Scholastic Aptitude Test-kind of test. In fact, the committee has given various options and no final decision has been taken on which option will be adopted. Again, as Sibal said it had not been decided how much weightage would be given to class XII marks and the SAT-like test. The marks scored by students in class XII would be `normalized’ through a formula devised by experts of the Indian Statistical Institute. But the experts favoured the normalization system after doing a pilot study of only four out of 42 boards in the country. They studied the result patterns of CBSE, ISE, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal Boards.

It also needs to be pointed out that normalization as a method has been abandoned by BITS, Pilani, and even in the USA. Last year, when a committee on JEE reforms under D Acharya, director of IIT, Kharagpur, suggested normalization it was opposed by many state boards.

The council, a governing body responsible for all the IITs, took a look at a proposal to indirectly hike theannual fee of a general category student from Rs.50,000 to Rs.2 lakh.

“The expenditure on one student in IIT is Rs.7-8 lakh, whereas the fee is Rs.50,000,”Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said after the meeting.

“We said the fee cannot be hiked, but under the new system discussed, the student will pay the same fee at the time of admission. When they start working, the rest of their fee will be paid in installments from their salaries,” the minister said.

The student will, however, be exempted if he or she goes for higher education, Masters or Ph.D., or takes up academics and teaching.

“The immediate difference of fee will be borne by the government. If a student has any gainful employment, he will have to pay back the difference in installments,” Sibal said.

Students from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and from the non-creamy layer of other backward category will be exempted from the fee hike.

“According to the calculations, only 25 percent of the students will be affected by this,” Sibal said.

The minister added that a final decision will be taken after consultation with states.

The council also agreed in principle to hold a common entrance test for engineering colleges.

“There are two aims behind holding a common entrance test. First, to reduce the burden on children for giving multiple entrance test, and, second, to maintain the diversity of India inside the IITs,” Sibal said.

“Presently only those who can afford coaching for entrance exams are going to the IITs,” he said.

Under the new system suggested, weightage would be given to the marks obtained by a student in Class 12 examinations.

Sibal, however, added that whether the colleges under state government will be included or not under the system would be decided only after a meeting with state governments.

“The Indian Statistics Institute has arrived at a formula for equalising marks in all boards. If one board gives 90 percent as highest marks, and the other gives 75 percent, the marks will be equalized on the basis of a formula,” Sibal said.

Producing more research scholars was one of the key issues taken up during the meeting, with the council deciding to enhance the capacity of IITs to produce 10,000 Ph.D. graduates annually from around 1,000 presently and increase faculty strengthfrom around 4,000 presently to 16,000 by 2020.

This will replace the current system of a joint entrance examination for IITs and separate tests for state engineering colleges. Officials said private colleges can use this test too.

Another proposal is to weaken the clout of coaching institutes by giving weightage to Class XII exam results. However, states need to be on board with a normalization process given that each has its own board examinations.

The Indian Statistical Institute has been roped in to work out the details.

HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said that the single test — on the lines of the Scholastic Aptitude Test in the US — would reduce stress for students and improve access to education. “The IIT system must reflect diversity. The aam aadmi must get into these institutes,” Sibal said.

The Kakodkar committee had recommended raising the fees to Rs 2 lakh a year. Sibal said this would be factored in but IIT fees would remain the same at Rs 50,000 per year .

However, an estimated 25% of the general students — whose annual income is above Rs 4 lakh — will have to pay back the “difference” (Rs 6 lakh at the rate of Rs 1.5 lakh per year) on employment, he said.

Those who do PhDs or join IITs as faculty will, however, be exempt from paying this. This proposal will go to the finance ministry. This is expected to incentivise those taking up doctoral research and teaching positions, Sibal said.

The fee structure decided by the Council, the highest decision-making body of the IITs, is complex. While all students at the time of admission will pay the existing fee, after they pass out 25% of students (other than SCs/STs/OBCs) who can afford the hike of Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh suggested by Anil Kakodkar committee, would be made to pay the amount to their institutions in easy installments.

As to how it would be implemented, HRD minister Kapil Sibal said employers would pay to the IIT. Asked how this would be ensured, Sibal said under the proposed law that would allow dematerialisation of certificates in electronic format, employers would cross-check the validity of certificates from government and then they would be told to pay a part of salary directly to the institute.

But there were no clear answers to other questions: What happens to a student who starts his own business? What happens to students who join a foreign firm in a foreign country? One official asserted that the students would have to sign a bond at the time of admission.

Sibal said the payback by 25% students would not apply if he joins M.Tech and subsequently Ph.D. He would be charged only after he joins a firm. Exception would also be given to students who after Ph.D join the IIT faculty. Reason: There is a dearth of good faculty in IITs. But, Sibal said, the entire formulation on fee has to meet the approval of finance ministry.

As for the common entrance test, what has been decided by the T Ramaswami committee is a new kind of Joint Entrance Examination where weightage would be given to class XII marks of students and a Scholastic Aptitude Test-kind of test. In fact, the committee has given various options and no final decision has been taken on which option will be adopted. Again, as Sibal said it had not been decided how much weightage would be given to class XII marks and the SAT-like test. The marks scored by students in class XII would be `normalized’ through a formula devised by experts of the Indian Statistical Institute. But the experts favoured the normalization system after doing a pilot study of only four out of 42 boards in the country. They studied the result patterns of CBSE, ISE, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal Boards.

It also needs to be pointed out that normalization as a method has been abandoned by BITS, Pilani, and even in the USA. Last year, when a committee on JEE reforms under D Acharya, director of IIT, Kharagpur, suggested normalization it was opposed by many state boards.

Vice chairman of the council, G S Acharya said, “Since Plus-II result plays a very crucial role in the career of a child and it is also the minimum eligibility criteria for appearing in most of the all-India entrance tests, the curriculum of the council must be at par with other boards. The syllabi will be revised keeping in view the performance of students in the national level entrance tests like IIT, NIT, AIPMT and AIEEE.

Though our text books are up-to-date, we would upgrade the curriculum in consultation with experts.” Besides, a series of examination reforms are also in the pipeline to streamline the examination, official sources said.

Higher education minister Badri Narayan Patra said, “The government is planning to introduce assessment of junior colleges in the line of NAAC, which will reveal the status and standard of junior colleges. There are large-scale mismanagement in junior colleges in enrollment of students, recruitment of teachers and examination and evaluation process.”

He said, “The e-admission process of this year showed how colleges had been misguiding the government by showing false records. Earlier we could not know the exact numbers of vacancies but this year over 50,000 seats are lying vacant in different colleges.”

Secretary of higher education department Chandrasekhar Kumar said, “Council should track the career of best students so that it could help in maintaining a record of brilliant students.” He also gave emphasis on use of internet for providing references to students and help them in their studies.

Jam 2012 will be held on Sunday, 12 February,2012 The jam examination is for admission to M.Sc. (two year ) , joint M.Sc. Ph. D ,M.Sc. Ph.D. Dual degree, and other post-bachelor degree programmesat the IIT’s (Bombay, Delhi , Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kanpur, kharagpur, madras and roorkees ) for the academic year 2012-13. Online registration and sale of application forms will commence from 22 September, 2011. For details, visit http:/www.iitb.ac.in/fam or refer to employment news dated 10 September, 2011 or university news dated 12 september, 2011.

Organizing chairman, jam 2012
IIT Bombay, Mumbai -400076

According to M Balakrishnan, deputy director, IIT-D , before deciding on how to make the best possible use of the land, permission from the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has to be obtained on the same.
“We have already written to MHRD about the land offered to IIT-D and after we hear from them we will use the land as an extension to our current campus,” he informed .

As per Rakesh Kumar, registrar, IIT-D , the institute will not conduct BTech programmes at the new campus . It will rather use that land for research related activities and entrepreneurship development programmes. The new campus, when ready, will ease out space-related problems that the IIT is facing now. IIT-D is spread across 300 acres of land out of which 50 acres is forest area.

With the available spread of land already in use, there is no space left to construct facilities like more research labs. Also, the student strength of IIT-D at present is approximately 8000, for which the current campus is not adequate.

The other problem faced by the institute is the shortage of faculty. IIT-D is short of almost 200 faculty – as against the sanction.