Staff crunch, temporary campuses mar new IITs

The government’s attempt to bolster professional education institutes has turned a cropper, with the new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISERs) hit by an acute shortage of faculty and are still functioning from temporary campuses. A parliamentary panel report has asked the HRD ministry to ensure that these gaps are met so that the premium institutes can function more effectively.

The standing committee on HRD has expressed concern over the shortage of faculty that is as high as 60% in some IITs. The sanctioned posts in the new IITs are about 90, but none of the new institutes have been able to fill up their posts. While IIT-Hyderabad had the support of 74 faculty members, institutes in Patna (55), Bhubaneswar (50), Indore (38) and Mandi (35) had below-par strength. IIT-Jodhpur was worst off, with only 32 members in its faculty. “The committee is of the view that only qualified and experienced faculty can make the functioning of any institution, specially premier institutions like IIT meaningful and effective,” the report said.

It also expressed concern over the running of new IITs from temporary campuses despite being set up between 2008 and 2010. In the case of new IITs, either the location of the permanent campus was being finalized or land allotted or construction work was to start. In the case of IITs in Bhubaneswar and Mandi, for instance, the foundation stones were laid in February, 2009, but they continued to function from temporary campuses. The report said that it was clear that it would take some time before IITs begin to function from “well-structured and well-equipped campuses.”

Five IISERs (in Pune, Kolkata, Mohali, Bhopal and Thiruvanthapuram) also continue to function from temporary campuses. Pulling up the ministry, the parliamentary panel said that: “These institutions were envisaged to carry out research in frontier areas of science and to provide quality science education at undergraduate and postgraduate level.” IISERs are expected to have state-of-the-art buildings, fully equipped labs and rich library but these facilities are still not available for students.

The report noted 10 new NITs (National Institutes of Technology) also suffered similar fate, with four functioning out of their respective mentor NITs and six running from temporary campuses. The committee also observed that several legislations related to higher education continued to be delayed.

Source: The Times of India, May 10, 2012

Birla Institute of Technology & Science entrance more competitive than IIT

Cracking the IIT-JEE may be top priority for most students, but the BITSAT is now the most competitive of all national engineering entrance exams in the country. An average of 68 students will compete for a seat in this year’s BITSAT, the online test for admission into degree courses at Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, which starts on May 10. In comparison, only 54 students contested for a seat at the IIT-JEE 2012.

Based on number of applications received, 136,000 students are expected to take the BITSAT-2012 for admission to a total of 2,000 seats at the institute’s campuses in Pilani, Hyderabad and Goa. The exam will be conducted in 32 centres across the country between May 10 and June 9, 2012. On the other hand, 520,000 students took the IIT-JEE 2012 on April 8 to be eligible for 9,600 seats in the 15 Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), the Institute of Technology at Banaras Hindu University (IT-BHU) and the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad.

The VITEEE, which was conducted on April 21 for admission into deemed university Vellore Institute of Technology, follows the IITs with 48 students competing for one seat. The exam was taken by about 150,000 students across India for admission to 3,100 seats. “VIT sees the largest number of applicants among deemed universities because of its placement record, especially in the IT sector,” said Jayaprakash Gandhi, an education consultant.

Next comes the All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE), which was taken by 1.1 million students this year for admission into approximately 35,000 seats in the 31 National Institutes of Technology (NIT). The AIEEE score is also used by approximately 50 other private and government engineering institutions across the country, many of which have a majority of seats reserved for students of the home state and admit them by conducting their own regional common entrance tests. On an average, 31 students compete for one seat with the AIEEE score.

AIEEE is followed by some more private and deemed universities such as Manipal and SRM which have grown in popularity over the last few years, especially because of their superior infrastructure. Manipal recorded 27 applicants per seat this year followed by SRM with a ratio of 22 per seat.

Fewer seats gives BITS edge
Educationists say it is the increase in intake at IITs that has lowered its student-to-seat ratio, putting it behind BITS. In 2008, six new IITs were established and several courses added, which took total number of seats from approximately 5,500 to 7,000. Two more IITs were added in 2009 and the number of seats went up to 8,200. Introduction of newer courses and an increase in the number of seats has taken the number of seats to 9,600 in 2011-2012.

In comparison, numbers of seats at BITS have remained constant at 2000, making it more competitive. “The BITSAT has been growing in popularity among students since it was introduced in 2005. Over the last 2-3 years, number of applicants has increased enough to make the exam more competitive than the IIT-JEE,” says S Mohan, associate dean of admissions at BITS. The institute, founded in 1964, used to admit students based on their class 12 marks before 2005.

Since 2007, students are not allowed to take the IIT-JEE more than twice, slowing down the growth rate in the number of applicants. While 320,000 students took the exam in 2008, 395,000 took it in 2009, 472,000 took it in 2010 and 480,000 took it in 2011. This year, BITSAT lowered its eligibility criteria from 80% to 75% in the board exams making more students eligible. “We found that a lot of students were getting left out due to the high qualifying percentage,” says Mohan.

Over the last five years, number of students applying to the BITSAT has increased steadily from around 88,000 in 2007 to 123,000 in 2011 and 136,000 in 2012. The BITSAT is also completely based on the NCERT school syllabus which makes it more popular, especially among CBSE school students. ‘We discourage aspiring students from taking extra coaching for the exams and students who prepare well for their class 12 boards can do well in the BITSAT,” says Mohan. Students also need to obtain a minimum average of 75% marks in Physics, Chemistry and Math in the board exam to qualify for a seat, the highest cut-off among all other engineering tests.

Source: The Times of India, May 10, 2012